Polar Opposites
by Elias Kotz
Summary: Devils being good, angels becoming corrupt! This is just the first sign of the apocalyptic world Issei Hyoudou must try to live in after events that transpire threaten to tear him apart in more ways than one.
1. Beginnings

The day was just beginning, it was warm and the sun was shining brightly in the morning sky.

A boy of 16 was waking up and going about his morning routine before school when he heard the sound of a window shattering downstairs.

Being the brave but sometimes irrational kid that he was, the boy rushed downstairs to the sound and saw the worst scene of his life. His father was dead on the floor in a pool of his own blood while his mother was still alive but on the border of death due to being strangled by a dark, cloaked person.

"S- STOP IT, LEAVE MY MOM ALONE" the boy yelled as both the figure and his mother laid eyes upon him.

"N-no Issei... r-run" choked out his mother before her windpipe was severed by a quick slash from the dark figure who then turned his attention to the boy.

Issei flinched at the sight of his mother's end but heeded her final request and ran back upstairs his tears in his chocolate brown eyes. The figure pursued him with vigor and caught up with Issei just as he reached his room.

"Nowhere for you to run brat, give it up and I may spare you. It's tragic that your parents had to die but they put up a fight and annoyed me so they had to go. You are the one I've come for sacred gear holder, your power is very important to Lord Azazel's plan so come with me quietly or i'll have to take you by force." The figure sneered.

"N-no, I'll never come with you murderer" shouted Issei.

The figure prepared to extract the boy by force when a new voice made itself known in the house.

"Brother?" called out a young, unknowing, female voice.

The figure turned towards the voice and grinned before heading to towards the other brat in the house, hoping that she would be a little more fun to play with before he went back to the boy.

"STOP, DON'T GO IN THERE" screamed Issei while chasing after the figure who was now entering his sister's room.

The figure looked around the room and laid eyes upon a young girl, no older than 5 years old, on a small bed in the corner. The figure grinned once more before raising a hand and charging a light spear in the air.

Moments before the figure threw the spear, Issei burst into the room and dived for the figure's legs, throwing them off balance so the spear missed it's intended target but hit another one.

The force Issei had put into the tackle was unnatural for his age and size and it threw the figure off completely, both of them tumbled out of the floor to ceiling window in the second floor room shattering it in the process and fell down to the grass below.

The figure slowly stumbled to his feet and looked over to the boy who was still on the ground. The grass around him was stained red... the light spear that was meant for his sister had inadvertently ended up in his gut when he had tackled them out the window.

"Tch, Lord Azazel will not be happy with this result" grumbled the figure as he spread his black angel wings and flew off into the horizon.

Meanwhile, Issei was still unconscious and barely alive when his sister ran outside and knelt down over his limp body crying.

"ISSEI, C'MON WAKE UP" she yelled, not fully understanding the fact that her brother was dying.

Suddenly a bright light appeared in the sky and a woman appeared in an angelic robe with curly blonde hair that reached to her shoulders. The angel descended to the side of the fallen boy and his sister.

"My child, I am Gabriel the female seraph, this boy is dying but the power he holds is more important to this world than you can imagine. Will you help me save him?" Gabriel asked the young girl.

The girl nodded. Gabriel held up her hands and a golden glow filled the area before dissipating and revealing all three of them had vanished.

Issei awoke in a void of pure white light. He looked around for something, anything but saw only nothingness.

 **(Issei)** said a voice.

"Huh... who said that" asked Issei aloud.

 **(It was I, look at your left hand)** replied the voice

Issei did as the voice told him and looked at his left hand. He saw a green glow coming from the back of his hand.

 **(I am a sacred gear, I reside in your left hand)** explained the voice.

"S-so you're the reason my parents were killed" Issei mumbled as he began to tear up at the memory.

 **(I can only apologise for what happened Issei, those were bad people called Fallen Angels who harvest sacred gears for their own benefit, it was a tragedy that your parents met that fate)** The voice apologised.

"What exactly are you" asked Issei.

 **(My name is Ddraig, I am one of the two heavenly dragons that are constantly at war with each other. I was sealed in this gear you possess as a result of the destruction I caused battling the white one. This gear is called the Boosted Gear which allows you to double your power every ten seconds, you could also eventually use the balance breaker which is essentially a power upgrade to the base gear, but you'd need to become much stronger to access that ability.)**

"Please help me get stronger Ddraig, I have to avenge my parents and protect my sister, she's still alive" pleaded Issei.

 **'Obviously the poor boy didn't know what had happened after he was impaled yet, he'd have to learn that from the person who did it'** Ddraig thought sadly as he knew Issei was in for a little more heartbreak today.

 **(Soon Issei, first you must awaken and come to terms with your new life)** replied the dragon before fading from Issei's hand **.**

"Ddraig wait I-" started Issei before the whiteness around him faded and he began to wake up.

Issei slowly opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the room he was in was white and gold. As he carefully rose into a sitting position he discovered the whole room was that colour scheme, everything was white with gold. He had no idea where he was, only remembering that he, like his parents should be dead. Was this... Heaven?

"Yes" replied a sweet sounding voice from the door to the room which had opened while Issei was looking around the room.

Issei looked over to the source of the voice and saw a beautiful woman with shoulder length curly blonde hair wearing a angelic robe.

"I am Gabriel, and yes, this is Heaven" answered Gabriel.

"So i'm dead?" asked Issei.

"No, I brought you back to life and moved you here" she corrected.

Issei's eyes lit up.

"Then I can still protect my sister" he exclaimed joyfully.

Gabriel looked at the boy with a sad smile knowing that the news she had to deliver now would hurt him far worse than his parent's deaths.

"I'm sorry my child, but to bring you back to life... I had to use your sister as a sacrifice." Gabriel said in a monotone voice.

These words shattered Issei, all the hope and joy drained from his eyes, quickly being replaced by anger and sorrow.

"WHAT, WHY, HOW COULD YOU SACRIFICE A LITTLE GIRL LIKE THAT" yelled Issei at the top of his lungs.

"I'm sorry but the sacred gear you possess was far too powerful to just give up, the sacrifice of one girl was a necessary one, it was for the best of all of Heaven as now we have the Red Dragon Emperor to assist us in our war with the Fallen and Devils." replied Gabriel, her wings flashing black constantly throughout her sentence showing just how corrupt what she was saying really was.

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOUR WAR WITH WHOEVER, SHE WAS MY DAMN SISTER, YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME DIE, SHE DESERVED TO LIVE SO MUCH MORE" bellowed Issei as he broke down into tears near the end of his rant and screamed at Gabriel to get out.

Gabriel left Issei in the room by himself and went to attend to other matters while he calmed down.

'He'll listen to reason eventually, one girl for that kind of power, it was justified' Gabriel thought as she went to report to Michael, the current leader of the angels.

Issei was in turmoil, his whole life had been turned upside down, his parents were dead because of the being inside him and his sister was sacrificed by the very people who had saved him to use him for war.

"And I thought devil's were supposed to be the evil ones" Issei mumbled aloud.

 **(Not always partner)** replied Ddraig.

"What do you mean" questioned Issei.

 **(In the beginning the devils were created by one bitter angel who fell from heaven, but ever since the great war between angels, devils and fallen angels started, the devils were the first to realise that the casualties from the war were too high to continue and started to look for a way to end the war).**

 **(The fallen angels also wanted to pull out of the war for the same reason but their faith was still strong so they continue to this day).**

 **(The angels were the ones who changed for the worse, as the war went on and the casualties rose they became reckless and willing to do anything to end the war victorious as you've witnessed first-hand with the sacrifice of your sister just so they could gain my power to use for their own needs.)** explained the dragon.

"So the angel's view has become corrupted and the devil's have seen the light, well ain't this just a massive sign saying apocalypse" joked Issei as he got up from the bed.

 **(Are you ok partner?)** Ddraig asked, worried for not only his partner's feeling but mental health as well.

"Ddraig I just saw both my parents murdered as my baby sister sacrificed for power, what do you think" Issei replied with a unnerving smirk.

"I need you to do me a favour Ddraig." said Issei.

 **(What is it partner?)** asked the dragon.

"End me" replied Issei with a smile.

 _ ***Cuts self on the edge* Ouch!**_

 ** _Hey everyone, Bloodstained Kaneki here but ya'll can call me BK if ya want ;)_**

 ** _Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story, it's not too long but I wanted to get the first part out and have some feedback before properly getting into the second chapter._**

 ** _I hope to average between 2000-3000 words per chapter so that I can get a new chapter out faster than every 6 years, haha._**

 ** _But again, thanks to anyone who actually read this crap ;)_**

 ** _'Till next time, BK out._**


	2. Fall From Grace

The city of Kuoh was bright from the street lights and moonlight shining down. The once bustling town was now quiet for the night as only a few straggling cars and pedestrians were finishing their activities.

Issei slowly walked along the pavement next to a row of shops. His goal here was to find the apartment he'd rented out to go to school at the recently turned Co-ed Kuoh Academy since it was the easiest to access and he wanted to finish his education and live a normal life.

The road wasn't busy nor were the streets, it was eerily quiet for a usually busy town, even at this hour.

Issei turned a corner and stepped into an alleyway which was a shortcut to where he needed to go... well he hoped it was anyway. After coming out of the alley he made a right turn and strolled down a long, narrow street with fewer lights than before... No, the lights were there, they were all off though which was quite strange at the late hour.

Issei shrugged it off as he wasn't interested in anything as trivial as a few lost lights and he continued to the end of the road where there were two possible directions to take. He took out the map in his back pocket and studied it for a minute before tapping right on the fork and putting it away.

He was about to take the right path when he heard the sound of metal being dented and a female grunt of pain in the distance coming from the left fork. Issei stopped himself naturally moving towards the sound and told himself that he wanted a normal life, whatever was down that way would make a normal life impossible, he could feel it.

Then a loud crack was heard and the female voice from before cried out in pain much louder. Issei couldn't ignore this, no matter what, even if he was about to throw away his ticket to a normal life, he wouldn't become like them he wouldn't ignore the suffering of others, he would not let another die when he could prevent it.

Issei took off towards the sounds as fast as he could, sprinting through alley after alley, street after street, over hedges under bridges until he found the source.

It wasn't a pretty scene, there was a hideous monster with the upper body of a woman but the legs of a spider. She was easily 3 times his size and clearly had the power to pack that size up. Issei looked to the left and saw the source of the cries he'd heard. Lying against the wall of a warehouse was a girl who looked younger than Issei but he could tell it was the fact she was shorter that gave that illusion, in fact while a good foot shorter than him, she would probably be only a year younger.

The girl had snow white hair that went down to her shoulders freely and wore the uniform of Kuoh Academy which proved Issei's theory of her being his kohai by one year. She was a lot shorter that an average girl of her age, if he had to guess Issei would assume she was around 4"11 or 5 foot tall. She was clutching her left arm which was coated in her blood leading Issei to assume it was broken and badly damaged.

Issei could tell this girl was a devil due to powers he wished he didn't have, even with her accelerated healing, that arm was going to take a few hours to properly reset and while that monster was bearing down on her, time was the thing she didn't have... so he'd make some.

Issei jumped forwards a threw 4 throwing knives at the monster's head to distract it, then he pulled back his fist and charged it up with his powerful magic before delivering a devastating uppercut to the monster's jaw sending it flying into the empty street. Issei quickly knelt down and gave the girl some of his magic to heal faster before jumping into the street after the monster which was just beginning to rise.

"Grrr, pathetic human, out of my way before I crush you" growled the monster as it lunged forward to swipe Issei with it's sharp claws.

Issei dodged back to avoid the strike then jumped up and forward flipped over the monster's head before coating his hand in the same magic as before and slammed a fist into the monster's back.

Issei expected the monster to fly forwards, but it stood exactly where it was, completely unaffected by the magic that had floored it just moments ago. Issei stood there confused before being swiped by a claw from the back causing him to be flung forward onto the pavement in front of the monster.

"Ha ha ha" the monster gargled creepily "I forgot to mention that once an attack is used on me once, I become immune to it entirely, hence why I was able to beat your strong little friend back there".

Backed into a corner with no other options since his magic was his main form of attack and ever since that day his partner hadn't spoken a word, Issei sighed as he realised he'd have to use the power within he so desperately wanted gone. He closed his eyes and meditated thinking only about this power, forgetting all his surroundings...

The monster saw Issei closing his eyes and standing still and laughed.

"Given up already, fine then, I guess i'll end you earlier than I planned" stated the monster and it rushed forward and swung it's razor sharp claws down across Issei's chest.

Just as this attack connected, the girl from earlier arrived on the scene fully healed from Issei's magic only to see him cleaved down the middle by the monster's claws and blood spurting out of the open wound.

The girl gasped and closed her eyes in sadness at the sight of her savior being struck down by the monster she had failed to defeat. Moments later however, she felt a rush of wind stronger than what should have been for that night. She opened her eyes and saw Issei was still standing with his wounds already healed and bathed in a golden light.

Issei's eyes shot open and as he drew a sword from a scabbard that appeared on his belt the area exploded gold in colour. The sword was white with gold highlights and was a single handed broadsword. Issei advanced upon the monster which tried to flee but was caught by Issei midair flying using his angel wings. Issei threw the monster into the air and sliced it clean in half like a fruit.

The monster fell to the earth in half and disintegrated before Issei had reached the ground. Once he'd reached the ground, Issei retracted his wings and sheathed the sword in it's scabbard which promptly disappeared from his belt.

Issei looked over to the girl he'd saved and saw her expression of loathing. He realised that he'd just shown a devil who had no idea about the current status of the three factions the fact that he had angel wings, the sign of a devil's greatest enemy... what a dumb move.

He half expected the girl to charge at him and attack but wasn't surprised when she gave a final growl and fled the scene, probably to report to her master that an angel was in the territory of a devil.

"So much for a damn peaceful life, tomorrow at school is gonna be eventful" he mumbled aloud as he pulled out his map again and resumed the journey to his apartment.

Issei found the place after a few minutes of searching and used the key he was given to enter. The place was small but it'd do for a while, the living room had a couple of sofas and a TV, the kitchen had all the necessary items to cook and there was a small toilet next to the one bedroom that housed a simple double bed.

It was quite late and Issei didn't feel very hungry so he opted to sleep and get a full nights rest considering he'd most likely have to deal with a devil and her peerage tomorrow. He only hoped he could resolve the inevitable tension, he never asked to be an angel, it wasn't his choice. Shortly after these thought he finally fell asleep, just missing the Jack of Hearts symbol on the back of his hand light up.

Issei awoke to his alarm at 7:30am the next morning, he'd set it because he had wanted to get to school early and smooth over the situation with the devils, but now with a clear head and fresh thoughts, he realised that it probably would be best to just go about the day as normal and let them approach him as to not make them feel threatened.

He got up, showered, tried to comb his shaggy black hair that reached just above the top of his shoulders, but ended up giving in like he always did since his hair never obeyed a comb.

Then he dressed in his modified version of the uniform of the academy which usually consisted of a white button up shirt, black trousers, brown dress shoes and a black blazer.

His version of the uniform was a red undershirt with the white button up shirt over the top undone as was the black blazer, the trousers were the same but he wore black and white sneakers instead of dress shoes. He knew he'd get called for this but considering the job he had to do today, he though he at least deserved to be comfy while walking around the campus.

Next he went downstairs and made himself some toast for breakfast and packed a lunch he'd made previously into his bag along with his notebook and pens. After finishing his toast, he looked at his phone and saw it was 8:15am, his classes started at 8:30am so he left quickly as to make the 15 minute commute to school on time.

Issei walked a a brisk pace and ended up entering the campus 5 minutes early at 8:25am. He decided to just head to where his first class was to make sure he wouldn't be late, he was a transfer student after all, he didn't want to make a bad first impression.

Throughout his journey around the school to find his classroom he heard multiple girls mumbling about how hot he was and boys mumbling that they already had enough competition with 'that damned prince'. If he had to guess, he assumed that this prince the guys and girls are talking about would be a devil since humans are usually drawn to them because of the scent they release to make them look pleasing. That and he doubted one human guy would be this popular, then again stranger things have happened... like a former angel saving a devil.

Eventually Issei found his classroom and was told by the teacher to wait outside when he knocked. Issei stood just outside the door and leaned on the wall while other students went by whispering to their friends. Just before he was called inside, Issei saw a beautiful girl with rose red hair that fell to her waist and a rack that any guy would love and any girl would hate.

The girl looked over at Issei for a few seconds before looking away again. At this point, the teacher of his class had called Issei to come inside which he did so. Issei stood in front of the large blackboard at the front of the class facing the 20 or so students in his class.

"Hey everyone, my name is Issei Hyoudou, I hope we can all get along" Issei said cheerfully while smiling.

"Alright class, do you have any questions for Issei?" asked the teacher.

Two boys stood up.

"Yo Issei, my name's Matsuda and I wanted to know if you wanna join us and make the... *pauses to get into a pose with the other boy called Motohama* PERVERTED TRIO." yelled Matsuda.

"MATSUDA, THAT IS ENTIRELY INAPPROPRIATE GO AND SEE THE STUDENT COUNCIL IMMEDIATELY, AND YOU MOTOHAMA." the teacher yelled out.

"Aw crap" both the boys sighed as they left the room.

"Sorry about that Issei, lets get you sat down and we can start, how about you sit next to Kiba?" said the teacher as he pointed over to a blonde boy with handsome features who smiled and waved.

'well it wasn't that hard to find this prince' thought Issei as he mentally sweatdropped before walking over and taking the seat next to Kiba at the back of the room by the window.

"Hey there, my name is Kiba as you know is there anything you want to know?" asked Kiba.

"Do you know a short girl with white hair that goes to this school, year younger than me and you?" asked Issei.

"Yes I do, her name is Koneko she's a first year while we're second year." replied Kiba.

"Could you ask her to meet me, I wanted to explain something she may have misunderstood" asked Issei.

"Uhh... sure, i'm not sure if she'll listen but I can try." answered Kiba.

"Thanks dude, I wanted to correct things now to try and avoid a headache later." said Issei.

"You mean the headache that involves the devils of this area finding out you're an angel?" whispered Kiba with a hint of contempt.

Issei looked at Kiba shocked for a minute but then realised that he must know Koneko and she must have told him about last night which means the news is spreading faster than he thought which means...

Yup, this kind of headache.

 _ **Yo guys, it's ya boi BK here back to deliver round 2 of the story.**_

 _ **The start of this chapter takes place an unknown amount of time after the first ended and what happened during that gap will remain a secret for now. All i'm saying is Ddraig won't talk to Issei because of something that happened but that may change soon :)**_

 _ **Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter, I hope to get another out in the next few days but until then,**_

 _ **BK out :)**_


	3. Devil Country

Issei sighed for the 15th time in the last 10 minutes. He'd been told by Kiba that Koneko would meet him in the old school building but once he got there he could sense the devils inside and assumed that it would be an ambush considering by Kiba and Koneko were in there so they had most likely told their master who had mobilized the entire bloody peerage.

So Issei had been cloaking his presence and weighing his options outside the building. On one hand if he left now he could avoid the ambush and have some time to prepare, but that would make the devils even more angry at him and they'd probably hunt him down. On the other hand if he went in there now, he'd most likely get beaten to a pulp but may be able to reason with the devils.

"What have I come to, a former angel trying to reason with devils, this shit is insane no matter how you look at it" mumbled Issei before he decide to just say fuck it and walk in.

Issei uncloaked his presence and walked into the building, up some stairs and came to a fancy looking double door made of a dark wood. Issei could hear shuffling inside and assumed it was the devils reacting to the sudden reveal of his presence. he could look into the room and devise a strategy to incapacitate them all so he could reason with them easily, but that would take a lot of effort and he was feeling impatient so he just threw open the doors and took in the scene before him.

First, a sword was flying towards him held by Kiba, second a punch from Koneko was just behind, third a lightning bolt was being charged by a black haired, busty chick that Issei didn't know and finally a sphere of intense magic was being produced by the red head that Issei had seen earlier.

"Well then... Maximum effort" said Issei as he dodged the sword from Kiba, grabbed his leg and used his momentum to swing him round into Koneko just hard enough to incapacitate them for a while. Next he dashed forward to the black haired chick and grabbed the hand charging the lightning and altered it's course so she shocked herself, incapacitating her. Finally he turned towards the red head only to realise too late she'd fired her magic and it hit him square in the chest.

"Ugh" groaned Issei as he collapsed to the floor.

"Now angel, you will tell me why you are in my territory, since you saved Koneko, I may be lenient" stated the red head.

"Sorry miss, but you've got this backwards" grunted Issei and he slowly stood up "I'll be the one asking the questions".

"I-impossible, how did you recover that fast without any healing" stuttered the red head before she was backhanded by Issei's magic coated hand and knocked unconscious.

Issei gathered all the unconscious people in the room and bound them onto the sofas with special magic that was strong enough to trap any being apart from Ophis and Great Red.

Now that he had the chance to look around, Issei realised the room was actually quite good looking, the colour scheme was dark and the windows were closed over, just like his personal style choice. There were a couple of sofas facing each other that the four he'd knocked out were bound to, there was an oak wood desk in one end of the room that had been painted a darker colour, bookshelves lined the walls and there was a door leading to who knows where at the end of the room opposite to the desk.

Issei waited for about 20 minutes before the first of the devils began to stir, it was Koneko.

As she woke up, Koneko looked around and saw she was in her clubroom, then she saw the face of Issei and tried to lunge towards him to attack but found herself bound to the sofa by magic that she couldn't break.

"I knew when I came here you'd try to ambush me so I bound you all to the sofas with my magic to prevent it happening a second time, but also so I could talk with you properly" explained Issei.

Koneko scoffed at his words.

"Like i'd believe the word of an angel" she spat with such venom.

"I didn't think you would, but what if I told you i'd be interested in becoming a devil in order to calm your worries?" asked Issei.

"W-what?" Koneko stuttered, she had definitely not expected an angel to ask to become a devil.

"You heard what I said, if it would calm you down and make it easier to talk, i'll happily become a devil" replied Issei.

"But... why would an angel want to become a devil?" Koneko asked unsure of Issei's motives.

"Let's just say I've been looking for a way to remove my angel status for a while now and this seems to be the perfect opportunity if you'll have me" answered Issei.

"You'd have to wait for Rias to wake up, she's this peerage's master" said Koneko while pointing over at the red headed girl opposite her.

"So she's the peerage king, doesn't really surprise me since her power of destruction was so powerful that it took me down for a minute, it basically screamed Gremory royalty, the red hair was also a big clue" Issei thought aloud.

"Y-you stood up to her power of destruction!?" yelled Koneko, flabbergasted at how powerful this boy must be.

"The main reason was my angel status, I only use it's power as a last resort usually but in situations like that it can activate without my consent. The reason why I was able to get back up so quickly without being healed was because it shielded by from the attack but my body was drained from it so I needed to rest momentarily." Issei corrected.

"That's still an amazing ability" insisted Koneko.

"It's still an angel's ability" Issei reminded her in a cold voice while looking away.

Before Koneko could respond, Rias began to stir. The red head opened her eyes and looked around the room seeing her peerage like her bound to the sofas and Issei sitting a close distance away seemingly conversing with Koneko.

"I see you've awakened Rias" Issei noted.

"Who are you?" asked Rias.

"My name is Issei Hyoudou, i'm an angel is search of a devil that will transform me into one of them" Issei replied simply.

"Huh!?" Rias spurted "Why would you want to become a devil?"

"Simple, it's the furthest thing I can be away from an angel, also I like to be able to spend time with Koneko without her trying to kill me every time I speak or see her" replied Issei earning a slight blush from Koneko that she quickly hid.

"Since I'm the master of this peerage I suppose I could allow you to join, plus you could help me with a problem I have right now. However I have one condition" Rias stated.

"What might that be?" asked Issei.

"You tell me everything, I need to know all about you before I decide if I want to allow you into my peerage" replied Rias.

"Very well, I tell you to take a seat but I see that's not needed" Issei said chuckling a little at the end from his stupid joke.

Rias rolled her eyes at the joke while Koneko somehow managed to facepalm with her hands tied to her legs.

"Sorry, starting now" Issei replied as he lost his smile and began to remember.

"I was a normal human until a year ago when a fallen angel invaded my home, they killed my mother and father in front of me and were about to kill my baby sister when I tackled them out a second floor window. Unfortunately they had a light spear charged up and when I tackled them it impaled me in the stomach instead of my fallen angel flew away after they saw I was dying and my sister came running to my side, there was a bright golden light and I fell unconscious.

When I woke up I was in a white void with nothing around me, that's when I met the power I had that the fallen angel was after, the boosted gear, housing Ddraig the red dragon of domination" explained Issei.

"Wait... YOU'RE THE RED DRAGON EMPEROR" yelled Rias.

"I don't think of myself as it currently, Ddraig has refused to talk to me ever since I asked him to kill me" replied Issei.

"YOU WHAT!?" shouted Rias.

"let me finish" replied Issei "In the white void I met Ddraig and he told me about what the boosted gear could do but more importantly he told me of the state of the three factions. The devil leaders apparently saw reason and were the ones to find a way to end the war and enter the uneasy truce we have now, the fallen angels were mad at the war ending because their faith was so strong but they eventually saw reason. However the angels were the most disgusting faction, as the casualties of the war rose they became reckless and impure, trying to find a way to end the war victorious no matter the cost" explained Issei.

"Then once I woke up, I found myself in heaven in the presence of Gabriel herself, it's turns out she was the bright gold light I saw before falling unconscious, she tricked by sister into being sacrificed just so she could save the power of the red dragon emperor inside me. That's when I realised how screwed up the angels really were but by then Gabriel had already made me her Jack so I asked Ddraig to kill me so I could get out of her service and leave them to suffer as well as joining my family in the afterlife. He refused to kill me and we had an argument that lasted a while before he went to sleep and hasn't spoken to me since" finshed Issei.

"So why are you here in Kuoh Issei?" asked Rias.

"Because I felt attached to the town I lived in as a kid with my family and I wanted a normal life so I applied for this school. However on my way to my apartment I heard Koneko being attacked and couldn't ignore her so I saved her and then knew my chance for a normal life had gone away so I decided I may as well see if she was ok, that brings us to here" replied Issei as he stretched his arms and yawned.

"I'm sorry for treating you harshly Issei I had no idea how brutal the angels actually were nor the fact you'd suffered so much from them and just wanted to leave them behind" apologised Koneko sadly.

"No worries, it's only natural for a devil to hate angels, it's in your blood, I forgive you Koneko" replied Issei kindly.

"Thank you Issei" Koneko said as she began to tear up slightly.

Issei removed the magic binding the four devils to the sofas and walked over to Koneko. He knelt down in front of her and gently wiped away her tears while smiling. Koneko looked at Issei and smiled before giving him a hug. After they parted Issei looked over to Rias.

"So do I qualify?" he joked.

"Yes Issei, i'll turn you into one of my peerage" replied Rias with a smile on her face, she was glad that Koneko had made such a good friend.

"Step into this circle and lie down Issei" stated Rias.

"Alright" Issei replied as he did what he was told.

Rias acquired a crimson pawn piece from her pocket and held it over Issei's chest. The piece glowed faintly but dimmed out, one piece was not enough. Rias tried again with two pawns, then three, then four until all eight were glowing brightly over Issei's chest.

'Incredible, to take up all eight pawn pieces, this boy must have immense power' thought Rias as the pieces sank into Issei's body.

Issei's body shook for a moment before accepting the pieces. Issei opened his eyes and rose from the floor to be met by gasps from both Rias and Koneko.

"What is it?" asked Issei, a little worried.

"Issei... your wings" Rias almost mouthed she was that quiet.

Issei looked around and saw a mirror on the wall in the room, he strode over to it and peered into his reflection only to gasp as well in shock.

Not only did he have ten wings signifying great power, but the right half were angelic while the left half were demonic, he had become the first angel/devil hybrid...

 _ **Yo guys, BK back at it again with the third chapter for this story ;P**_

 _ **I hope you like it even though it hasn't got much action in it, hence why I added the scene at the start because I knew it would mostly be a setup chapter for the future. Don't worry, the next chapter is gonna have a familiar face enter the story and a kick ass fight scene :)**_

 _ **Hopefully I'll have that chapter out by Sunday for ya'll maybe even earlier depending on my schedule since i'm not too busy with other projects right now, but until then thank you all for reading, reviewing and the favorites and until next time,**_

 _ **BK out :)**_


	4. Powerful Rebirth

Issei stood in shock staring at his hybrid wings. He didn't know what to think of them, true he was slightly annoyed because he thought becoming a devil would purge him of his angelic status but they looked oddly beautiful, like they represented his inner turmoil with the two sides.

"Well... this was unexpected" mumbled Issei aloud as he turned to face the two girls.

"Issei I didn't know-" Rias started but was cut off by Issei.

"I'm a part of your peerage aren't I, even if I am half devil half angel it's better than being full angel, as well as the fact I have you guys as friends now, that's more than enough for me" assured Issei kindly.

"Thank you Issei" replied Rias, glad that her newest members didn't have any hard feelings.

Issei retracted his wings and walked over to the other side of the room where Rias and Koneko were sitting.

"How long do you think it'll take for Kiba and Akeno to wake up?" asked Rias.

"Well since I went easier on you two i'd say it's safe to assume they'll be out for at least double the time you were, meaning they should wake up any minute now" replied Issei who was proved correct as the two began to stir just after he'd spoken.

As they woke, both looked around the clubroom, saw Issei and lunged straight for him. Issei was able to dodge the lightning strike from Akeno but not the punch from Kiba and was sent flying into the wall.

"Ouch" mumbled Issei aloud as he picked himself up and felt his jaw where the punch landed "yup that's gonna swell up like a bitch, I guess I deserved it though" continued Issei as he walked back over to the four.

"Kiba, Akeno, stand down Issei is our friend and newest member, I ask you treat him kindly and not attack him further" ordered Rias.

"WHAT!?" they both yelled simultaneously.

"But president this guy is an angel, he is the very source of devils hatred!" shouted Kiba.

"Well maybe devils views on angels weren't as accurate as we thought" replied Rias.

"What do you mean?" asked Kiba.

"Issei holds the boosted gear and is this generation's red dragon emperor. Ddraig, who lives within the boosted gear informed Issei that the angels have become corrupt and wanted to end the war with as much power as possible which is why they tricked his sister into being sacrificed just so they could keep the power of the boosted gear in Issei after he was injured in a fight with a fallen angel that killed his parents" Rias answered with a sad look at Issei who only nodded to confirm the story.

Kiba fell silent at this with a mixture of sorrow in his eyes for Issei but also hate for the angels and fallen angels that had done this to him while Akeno remained quiet but teared up slightly at the revelation.

"Issei I-" began Kiba.

"It's fine man, I understand you thought I was just another angel who hated your way of life, you had no way of knowing my situation so lets just forget the past and focus on the future ok?" interrupted Issei with a small smile as he held out a hand.

"Alright Issei, thank you for understanding" Kiba replied taking Issei's hand and shaking it.

Issei then walked over to Akeno and wiped away her tears like he had with Koneko earlier.

"It's ok Akeno, I understand your situation" whispered Issei so that only Akeno could hear him.

Akeno gasped, but quickly regained her composure and gave Issei a big hug to let him know she was grateful.

"Well I suppose it's time for me to go home" said Issei as he checked his watch and saw it was already 7pm.

"Alright, I need to speak with you bright and early tomorrow about our club so please come here before class ok?" asked Rias.

"Sure thing, bye everyone" Issei replied as he walked out the door waving behind him.

The four members of the ORC remained still, all thinking about Issei and how kind he was considering the trouble he'd had from the factions.

"Issei seems really nice" Kiba spoke.

"I agree, he's an adorable Kohai that I must protect" Akeno seductively added.

"Tame those lustful instincts Akeno if anyone will have him it's me" interrupted Koneko.

Everyone gasped at the usually distance and emotionless Koneko making such a stand for Issei.

"Well it does seem like he's influenced this club for the better" added Rias before an orange insignia with a flame pattern appeared on the floor of the clubroom.

"I only hope you can help me through this Issei" muttered Rias, preparing herself for the arrival of someone.

"Issei was walking down the streets of Kuoh towards his apartment to crash. The streets were still relatively busy since it wasn't too late and the street lights were all on illuminating the street a little brighter than Issei's new devil sight would like.

He was about to cross the street when he saw a girl fall over onto the pavement. Issei walked over and offered her a hand up which the girl took. As she was lifted up her nun habit fell off and revealed beautiful blonde hair and emerald green eyes. Issei stood awestruck at her beauty for a moment before regaining his composure.

"Are you ok miss?" asked Issei.

"Yes, i'm fine, thanks for helping me up, i'm such a klutz sometimes" the girl said with a small giggle.

"Good, i'm glad you're okay, what're doing out so late at night?" asked Issei.

"I'm a nun who was stationed to the church in this town, but I got a little lost along the way" replied the nun sadly.

"Don't worry, I can show you the way" responded Issei as he took the girls hand and started to lead her in the direction of the church.

"Why thank you sir" replied the girl as she followed Issei.

"My name is Issei by the way, so you don't have to call me sir" Issei chuckled.

"What a nice name, mine is Asia" stated Asia.

"That's a beautiful name" replied Issei as the continued on their way to the church, making small talk along the way.

Issei and Asia eventually reached the church at the end of the town, Issei could feel an evil presence inside the church and wasn't comfortable leaving Asia here at all.

"Hey Asia, are you sure you were meant to come here, it feels off" asked Issei.

"Yeah the church told me to come here but I can feel what you mean" replied Asia.

"Maybe you should come with me and we'll find a way to contact heaven later" recommended Issei.

"Wait... you know about heaven?" questioned Asia.

"As a former angel, yeah" replied Issei.

"What do you mean former angel?" asked Asia.

"I'll explain later but I think we should get away from this church" answered Issei.

"You'll do no such thing you interfering runt" called out a new, condescending voice that made Issei's blood freeze.

Issei looked over to see a female fallen angel with black hair and violet eyes, her voice was a match and her figure looked exactly like it.

"YOU... YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CAME AFTER ME LAST YEAR AND KILLED MY PARENTS" yelled Issei as the rage inside him began to bubble over.

"Oh? So you're the lucky runt who was healed by Gabriel herself, how fortunate of you" sneered the fallen angel.

"Hah, yeah right lucky, I would have much preferred to die there and join my family and hearing what she did to bring me back" Issei bitterly shot back.

The female fallen was slightly confused as to why this angel was bearing such a grudge against the person who saved him.

"No matter, i'm going to finish what I started back then" sneered the fallen angel as she charged a light spear and lunged at Issei.

Issei dodged out of the way of the light spear and rolled to the side of the fallen's kick before coating his hands in magic and going on the offensive. The fallen was able to dodge the first and second of his strikes but the third connected with her shoulder and sent her skidding back. Issei fell back into a battle stance as he watched the fallen rise.

"Looks like you have a little more fight in you than I thought... no matter, i'll just kill Asia and take what I came for, she doesn't need to be alive for me to get what I want" stated the fallen as she moved towards Asia whilst charging a light spear.

"Oh no you don't" yelled Issei as he lunged in front of Asia and took the spear through the stomach.

"AHHHRGH" screamed Issei as he fell to his knees, he'd forgotten that now he was a devil light weapons were even more dangerous to him than when he was human.

Issei writhed in pain on the floor as Asia looked on in horror and the fallen advanced towards Asia. Issei noticed the fallen angel advancing on Asia and attempted to move but his body wouldn't obey, every nerve was drowning in pain and he felt like he was going to die until he blacked out...

Issei woke with a start. He looked around and saw he was in the familiar white void that he first spoke to Ddraig in, now that he thought about it, it really had been a long time since he'd spoken to his partner. Most of the reason was because of what he'd asked of Ddraig but some was probably due to his brash actions and stupid decisions, now because of him, Asia was going to die and who knows when he'd wake up from this void, hell she could already be dead.

Issei sighed aloud "What the hell am I doing here then when I should be helping Asia?" he asked the void.

Nothing...

"Just like I thought" said Issei bitterly.

A sigh could be heard in the void, it wasn't Issei's.

"Ddraig?" asked Issei.

 **(Issei)** replied Ddraig slowly.

"So what changed? I thought you were ignoring me and waiting for the next host?" asked Issei, quoting the line Ddraig had previously said.

 **(I didn't see the point of training or talking to you if you just wanted to die the first chance you got. But when you decided to save Koneko I saw that you'd changed, that you had started to live again. However by then it had been nearly a year and I had no idea how you'd react to me speaking to you again so I held back and observed you.** **I was happy you found friends in the those devils but when you were struck just now with a light spear and your devil side shut down I knew I had to help so I pulled you into here to talk)** explained Ddraig.

"So you're going to help me save Asia?" asked Issei.

 **(Indeed)** replied Ddraig **(You were already strong enough in nearly every area, the only reason I held it back was your mentality that you wanted to die, now you've overcome that and are ready to live, I think it's only right I give you this power)**.

"You mean..." muttered Issei with surprise.

 **(Yes, now i'm going to send you back, all you have to do is say the words)** stated Ddraig.

With that Issei was sent out of the void and woke up to a numb pain in the real world. He looked around and saw the fallen with a charged spear aimed directly at Asia who was kneeling on the ground in fear.

Issei lept into the air and delivered a surprise haymaker to the back of the fallen's head making her turn her attention to him.

"You're up already, pretty strong but you're no match for me" sneered the fallen.

"That doesn't matter, whether I'm a match for you or not, you threatened Asia who's my friend. You also killed by parents and by extension got my little sister killed as well. I used to wallow in pity and wished to die because of what you did to me, but now I have a new purpose a new reason to live in life!" Issei stated as he lifted his left arm and the boosted gear materialised making the fallen realise she fucked up bad.

Issei spread his hybrid wings, showing that he was both angel and devil, he accepted this fact.

"I WILL LIVE TO PROTECT MY FRIENDS" bellowed Issei as a fiery aura enveloped him.

 **(WELSH DRAGON, BALANCE BREAKER!)...**

 _ **It's ya boi BK back at it again with the action packed chapter I promised ;)**_

 _ **I did try to fit in some action but it evolved into more setup that will definitely pay off next with the cliffhanger i'm leaving things on this time.**_

 ** _Apologies_** _ **for the wait, I know I said i'd have it up by Sunday but I fell asleep early on Saturday night and was working for most of Sunday so by the time I got home I was wiped :(**_

 _ **Anyway, enough of my excuses, I wanted to thank the people that have favorited and reviewed this story, those people are;**_

DanTheMan26

Goodxbad13

RonnieK23

YisusDraco

ZarcEternal

flo463

heiwatosenso

werewolf1423

and

merendinoemiliano

 _ **Thank you to all of those people from the bottom of my heart, you're the reason I continue to write this :)**_

 _ **Thanks to all the people who have followed me as well and even just the people who popped in for a quick read.**_

 _ **As always, until next time,**_

 _ **BK out :)**_


	5. Escalation

Issei stood tall in the scarlet armor of his balance breaker as his aura flared up immensely like a raging fire, burning out of control. The armor itself was relatively form fitting with draconian aspects such a razor sharp claws, a dragon head helmet and a tail starting at the neck and jutting out the body gradually as it went down the back. There were green gems over the gauntlets, boots and chestplate similar to the one on the boosted gear's natural state.

The fallen angel who was still dazed from Issei's surprise attack snarled at his increase in power, now it would be almost impossible to defeat him and bring the nun to their lair to extract her sacred gear, unless...

The fallen acted quickly, she pulled out a whistle from her outfit and blew on it. Moments later 100 plus fallen angels had teleported to the scene and all had light spears charged and ready to throw. The fallen that had called them grinned and rushed towards Asia, teleporting away with her.

"NO!" yelled Issei as he watched her take Asia to god know where before he was skewered in the stomach with a light spear from one of the many fallen now in his vicinity.

Issei grunted in pain as he pulled out the spear with great difficulty due to his half devil status.

"Damn, that hurts like a bitch, I guess me only being half devil doesn't matter considering holy weapons touching me, but I wonder if I can still wield my holy sword?" Issei asked himself.

Issei summoned the scabbard containing his holy sword to his belt and unsheathed it only to scream out in pain as the hand holding it felt like it was being melted. He quickly re sheathed the sword and banished the scabbard to his pocket dimension.

"Well that answers that question, can't say i'm too bothered about it since I don't like my angel side but it really would have helped against these bastards" Issei lamented aloud as he jumped into the air and unleashed a torrent of dragon fire upon the group of fallen.

"Then again, with sick dragon powers like this, who the hell needs an angel's" Issei taunted aloud which was met by growls from the fallen and a chuckle from Ddraig.

Issei landed in front of the remaining fallen. Roughly 40 or so had been incapacitated by his fire and about 60 remained standing in front of him.

"This is where the fun begins, if you would Ddraig?" said a cocky Issei with a grin to match.

 **(It would be my pleasure partner)** replied Ddraig in an equally cocky tone.

 **(BOOST)**

Issei felt his power double and immediately dashed towards the nearest fallen, catching them off guard with his speed, he punched them square in the face, knocking them out cold.

"Damn..." mumbled Issei as he witnessed his power in action.

Issei quickly sprung back into reality just in time to see a light spear heading for his helmet, he decided to test something just before it hit.

 **(BOOST)**

Issei stepped out of the light spear's path before grabbing it's front and spinning it around back into the caster's face, sending them flying back into a group of three fallen, knocking them all unconscious.

"Awesome" yelled Issei at the move he'd just performed.

The rest of the fallen were quickly teleporting away in fear after what they'd seen and even Ddraig was curious as to how Issei had managed this, all he'd been told was to boost again before Issei grabbed and span the light spear.

Once all the fallen had left and the few that had stayed were incapacitated, Issei dispelled the balance breaker and his armor vanished. Soon after, Ddraig materialised the boosted gear on his left arm to ask his partner a question.

 **(So would you like to tell me how you were able to redirect that light spear but not wield your holy sword?)** asked Ddraig.

"I figured that when I was holding my sword and it burned me, I hadn't boosted beforehand so it was basically my normal power holding it which was why the light affected me. When I had boosted I felt less pain towards the spears as I dodged them so I had an idea, boost again and use my draconian power instead of my normal power to hold the holy weapon" explained Issei.

 **(So you boosted your draconian power and replaced your half devil half angel power with it to effectively wield a light weapon... how interesting)** mused Ddraig as Issei walked over to where Asia had been taken by the fallen woman. On the ground lay a single white hair pin.

"I failed her Ddraig I told her I protect her and I let her be taken by that fallen bitch, she's going to have her sacred gear ripped out, it'll kill her!" Issei told his partner, his voice breaking as he started to shed tears near the end of his sentence.

 **(Calm down partner, becoming hysterical and angry won't help us find her)** advised Ddraig.

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO!" screamed Issei as he fell to his knees clutching Asia's hair pin tightly.

 **(PARTNER)** roared Ddraig, angry at how quickly his partner was able to give into despair.

"W-what?" stuttered Issei half because of his tears and half because of Ddraig's harsh tone.

 **(You cannot give into despair this easily, you are the red dragon emperor, many foes will be attracted to your power to fight you, not all of them will fight fair, people you care about will die, it's going to happen, the only thing you can do is stay focused and hone your skills to the point where you can beat them)** lectured the dragon.

Issei stood.

"I refuse" was all he said.

 **(Pardon?)** said the confused dragon.

"I refuse your logic, I will not allow anyone I care about to die, even if it means I do. Before I wanted to die because I hated living and had no-one to live for, but now it's the opposite, I will live to protect the friends I've made, if need be, I'll die for them too" stated Issei bluntly in a low voice.

 **(Partner, that's not-)** Ddraig started.

"This is my life, I'll decide my destiny, my destiny is to protect my friends with my life if needed since without them, I'd be back to my time as an angel" Issei interruped.

 **(If you feel this is what's right for you I won't stand in your way, after all it's far from a shameful destiny)** replied the dragon.

"Thank you Ddraig, I promise I won't use this as an excuse to die, my death will only occur if another's can be stopped" stated Issei as he teleported to Kuoh Academy to seek the assistance of his king.

Issei appeared just outside the ORC clubroom inside the old school building and immediately cloaked his presence when he realised there were two auras that he didn't recognise, one of great power and the other less so but still relatively more powerful that the aura of Rias and her peerage whom he recognised.

Issei slowly made his way up the stairs and listened to the conversation inside.

"FOR THE LAST TIME I WILL NOT MARRY YOU, BASTARD" yelled a female voice Issei knew belonged to Rias.

"Oh come now Rias, our marriage is for the good of all the pure blood devils, do you want to doom our species" said a voice oozing with confidence and sleaziness.

"Of course not, but who I marry will be my choice and I will not choose a playboy, cheating scumbag like you Raiser" Rias shot back.

"Raiser is deeply offended by those accusations and will now stand for his name to be besmirched like that, now come with me back to the underworld or i'll burn your little peerage to ashes" countered Raiser as he flared his aura.

"Oh I don't think so" came a cocky reply.

The room of devils looked around for the source of the reply but no-one could see the newcomer.

"Come out you coward, Raiser would like to teach you not to interrupt his conversations" spat Raiser.

The response was not one he had expected. In mere seconds he was thrown to the floor by a powerful punch to the jaw. He stood up as fast as he could and stared into his attacker's eyes with burning hatred.

"Who are you brat?" asked Raiser with malice evident in his tone.

"Issei Hyoudou, pawn of Rias Gremory" answered Issei with pride.

"You are a part of my beloved's peerage, no this won't do, I can't have such a disrespectful servant once I claim you all as my own" sneered Raiser.

"Haha, like i'd ever become your servant asswipe" replied Issei with a cocky grin.

"Why you insolent little brat" spar Raiser as he formed a fireball in his hand and shot it at Issei who simply sidestepped it.

"C'mon Raiser, I thought a son of the great phoenix clan would be a good fighter rather than an overcooked pushover" replied Issei.

Raiser flushed red with anger and the overcooked comment and charged a massive fireball in his hand before it suddenly dissipated.

"Wha-" began Raiser before he was cut off.

"Both of you stop, this meeting has obviously failed to procure an outcome to the conflict between Rias and Raiser so i'm left with the only alternative, both peerages will participate in a rating game and the winner will decide the fate of the marriage" stated a devil in a maid uniform with gray hair.

Issei was about to object and carry on with the fight before he felt the maid's aura grow stronger, almost as if she could sense his thoughts, this was the great power he sensed earlier. He could probably beat this maid but he wouldn't have the strength to take on Raiser as well and right now the only one keeping him in line was her.

"If the ultimate queen wishes so, then I, the noble Raiser, shall not object" said Raiser in a voice that showed he wanted to continue fighting but cowered in the face of the maid's power.

Issei's mind clicked, this maid was the ultimate queen, queen to the son of the Gremory clan, Sirzechs, which meant her name was Grayfia.

"Grayfia... no wonder her power is so overwhelming" Issei mumbled aloud, unknown to him.

"How do you know my name?" questioned Grayfia.

"I guess you could say I did my homework on the supernatural while I was in Heaven" replied Issei.

Grayfia noticeably stiffened at the mention of Heaven.

"Why were you there" questioned Grayfia, her eyes narrowing.

"It's a story for another day" Issei brushed off the question

Grayfia was about to push the subject when Raiser spoke up.

"Well since a rating game will decide our marriage will happen, I will take my leave and await our game" Raiser said in a cocky voice as he teleported away.

"Thank god that chicken is gone, Rias I need your help with something" said Issei with renewed urgency in his voice, he'd forgotten about Asia's situation while annoying Raiser, something he berated himself mentally for.

"Oh um... ok, what is it?" replied Rias a little shaken from the meeting with Raiser and the urgency in Issei's voice.

"Ealier I met a nun when she fell in the street, she asked me to take her to the church which I did, but when we got there I had an off feeling so I suggested we leave, that's when a fallen angel attacked us and wanted Asia for here sacred gear" explained Issei.

"Wait so this nun you met asked you to take her to a church and has a sacred gear?" asked Rias.

"Yes, she has the twilight healing" replied Issei.

"That's a powerful gear... no wonder the fallen wanted it, but they're not supposed to be in devil's territory, do you know what they were doing here?" asked Rias.

"I think it was to lure Asia to them so they could take the gear from her" answered Issei.

"In that case, where is Asia now?" questioned Rias.

Issei's expression shifted into one of sadness.

"The fallen summoned many others and used them as a distraction to teleport away with her. I should have been able to beat her but she got the better of me due to my shock at her identity" confessed Issei.

"Wait, do you know her?" asked Rias.

"Unfortunately yes, she was... she was the one who drove me into the arms of the angels" replied Issei with a quite tone laced in sadness and regret.

The atmosphere in the room dropped and the members of the ORC all wore a sympathetic expression for Issei.

"Who is this fallen and why is she important?" asked Grayfia who'd stayed to listen to Issei after Raiser left, she was very interested in him, the boy's aura radiated power equal, maybe even more than her's and it worried but excited her at the same time.

"This fallen was the one who killed Issei's parents and injured him after he protected his sister" answered Issei.

Grayfia felt sadness for Issei but was curious as to what he meant we he said this fallen drove him into the arms of the angels.

"I see... but how does that event lead you to angels?" asked Grayfia.

"While I lay dying, my sister came to my side. She wept for me and Gabriel herself answered the prayer she gave. Gabriel assured my sister she could save me but the bitch tricked her into being sacrificed to save me, not even me actually, just the power of the boosted gear" Issei recounted, his tone shifting to anger by the end.

Grayfia was shocked to hear Issei call the female seraph a bitch but even more so at the revelation that she was talking to the red dragon emperor.

"Wait, so you're the red dragon emperor?" questioned Grayfia.

"Yes" replied Issei.

"So Gabriel saved you for the boosted gear, then what?"

"When she saved me, she reincarnated me into an angel but since I had no wish to serve her I left Heaven and became a mercenary since I was believed dead and needed the money to live" recounted Issei.

Grayfia visibly recoiled after Issei revealed he was an angel but remained silent until he'd finished while brewing her power in case the situation required her to eliminate him. Issei noticed this because he detected a surge in her aura but chose to ignore it since most devils didn't know about the truth of the angels situation.

"If you are an angel then how did you become a part of Rias' peerage?" asked Grayfia with a hint of hostility in her tone that Issei picked up on.

Issei realised that Grayfia was particularly distrusting of angels and mentally noted to ask her about it later but for now he needed to give her answers... he spread his wings.

Grayfia gasped, the boy had angel and devil wings, he was a hybrid.

"Rias reincarnated me into a devil and I ended up being a hybrid of both with a little dragon from Ddraig" explained Issei.

"I see" replied Grayfia, trailing off.

"Rias are there any shrines around the city?" asked Issei.

"There is one, it's where Akeno grew up" replied Rias.

Upon hearing about her shrine, Akeno tensed up but her worries were soon lost when she felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Issei.

"It's ok Akeno" Issei reassured her "if you need to, we can talk later" he offered.

"Thank you Issei" replied Akeno gratefully.

"Well then, if there's only Akeno's shrine then it's a safe bet that the fallen will take Asia there to extract her gear since the church was compromised" stated Issei.

"We're coming with you Issei" added Rias.

"Alright, but once we get there you all should be careful, this is a powerful fallen with the ability to call hundreds of allies and who know if she has powerful friends" replied Issei.

"Geez, how did ya beat him the first time then" joked Akeno.

"Balance breaker" replied Issei seriously.

The ORC all stood shocked that Issei was forced to unlock and use balance breaker on this fallen, it seemed as though her strengths were not exaggerated.

"I'm assuming you need to go and inform your husband of the rating game between Rias and Raiser" Issei asked Grayfia.

"Indeed, but i'll be keeping an eye on you Issei" replied Grayfia.

Issei threw her a thumbs up before turning to the members of the ORC with a serious expression.

"Are you all sure you want in? This will be your last chance out" asked Issei.

"Yes" the ORC members replied in unison.

"Then let's go save Asia" stated Issei with determination as he used his magic to teleport him and the ORC to Akeno's shrine.

 _ **Yo it's ya boi BK here again to deliver this incredibly late chapter :/**_

 _ **I do apologise for the wait but a combination of forgetfulness, laziness and other projects got in the way of writing this, hopefully though, that won't be the case any longer and I can get a chapter out every 2 weeks or so.**_

 _ **This chapter is a bit longer to make up for that, also it's to make sure I didn't condense events too much, there are probably some things I could have fleshed out more but that's in the past now.**_

 _ **So as always thanks you all for following, reading and reviewing and until next time,**_

 _ **BK out :)**_


	6. Realisation

The group arrived in a red burst of magic and quickly assessed their surroundings. It appeared that the teleport had brought them to a few minutes walk away from the shrine as they saw the steps to it across the forest area they were in.

Since she knew the way once they got into the shrine, Akeno lead the group up the stairs and through the shrine which felt like a maze to the others but since she'd grown up here, Akeno knew the shrine like the back of her hand.

A few minutes later, the group arrived inside a large room in the main part of the shrine and saw a dark figure ahead. The figure giggled creepily and walked into the light to show themselves.

The figure was a man with messy white hair and blood red eyes that just screamed crazy, he was dressed in a white priest's outfit and giggled some more as he licked his lips at the prey that had come his way.

"Ufufufu, what do we have here? Some shitty devils intruding on this holy shrine and our private business, how disgusting" spat the man.

"Who are you and why are you intruding on devil territory" asked Rias with an authoritative tone.

"Our business is none of your concern shitty devil, and my name is Freed" snarled the man now known as Freed.

Issei marched towards the so called priest, as he did so he called out to the ORC.

"I'll deal with this asshole, you go find Asia". The members of the ORC nodded but before they could move an unknown force rooted them in place.

The ORC were looking around the room wildly to try and find the source of the magic holding them when the altar of the shrine slid sideways revealing a secret passage. Once the altar finished moving, the fallen angel that had taken Asia came up the stairs with Asia in her arms and a psychotic grin on her face.

The fallen started laughing manically as she dropped the body of Asia at the feet of Issei who could only stare at the body in shock as he was frozen to the spot like the other members of the ORC.

"N-no" choked Issei as his eyes began to water, tears threatening to fall.

"Yes" replied the fallen smugly as she proved her power by using twilight healing on Freed's cut he'd received before Issei was frozen. The cut healed in seconds, proving that the fallen had stolen twilight healing from Asia, an action that had resulted in her death.

"Thanks Raynare" squawked Freed as he pulled out a light sword and prepared to kill the devils before him.

"Not yet Freed, I want to see how this runt feels" Raynare replied maliciously as she sauntered over to Issei's frozen body and pulled on his hair.

The emotions Issei felt currently were intense and conflicted. He felt sorrow at not being fast enough to save Asia, angry at himself for not being able to move and pick her up, but absolutely furious at Raynare for killing her, this bitch had taken his parents from his, his sister, no matter how indirect and now the girl that had befriended him and trusted him to protect her, he'd failed her again, and this time it was deathly final.

Issei roared in anger and pain and sorrow, his cry shaking every person in the room to the core at the raw emotion in his voice before breaking free of the magic binding him to the spot and punching Raynare square in the face launching her across the room.

Issei used his magic to free the ORC so they could hold off Freed while he took his revenge on Raynare.

Meanwhile, the fallen in question had slowly started to lift herself up when she was knocked back down viciously by Issei's axe kick to her skull. Raynare was bleeding profusely from her head but managed to lift it up enough to catch a glimpse of Issei's, a glimpse that would haunt her for the rest of her existence.

Issei's eyes were alight with rage so furious Raynare felt it literally burning her face, his aura was a bright crimson and was flaring out immensely. His right arm opposite to his sacred gear was coated in a black aura as dark as the night sky that was incredibly unstable as it fluctuated constantly.

The boy lifted up Raynare by her neck in a choke hold that left her gasping for air as her hands held his left he was using to choke her while her legs were dangling helplessly and pathetically.

"I-Iss-" Raynare tried to choke out before having her windpipe crushed even more.

"WHY? WHY DID YOU DO IT, YOU KILLED MY PARENTS, THEN DROVE MY SISTER TO BE SACRIFICED BY THE BITCH OF A SERAPH AND NOW YOU KILL ASIA" screamed Issei with tears in his eyes.

Raynare was shocked, she'd been informed this boy was a pathetic pervert that didn't care about anyone but himself, sure her judgement had faltered after he protected his sister but she thought that was just because she was family, but here he'd come to rescue a girl he'd met a day ago and now was in tears upon her death.

"I-I was ordered to by Azazel, he would have killed me and my brother if I hadn't followed through with killing Asia, please believe me I have no idea who killed your parents and sister" stuttered Raynare as Issei released her from his grip, lowering her gently to the ground.

Issei was shocked to the very core, the woman in front of him hadn't killed his parents or his sister... Now it made sense, Raynare was merely an unwilling pawn in another person's game, forced to kill Asia so she and her brother could survive.

"Azazel wasn't the one who ordered you to kill them was he?" half questioned Issei as he already knew the answer, the Fallen general wasn't one to kill without good reason, Issei knew this from an encounter he'd shared with him during his short time in Heaven.

 _Flashback_

 _Issei was very pissed._

 _Not only had that damn dragon who inhabited his left arm stopped talking to him, it had cut all the power Issei could access to do with his boosted gear and to top it all off he was stuck in Heaven serving the bitch that had sacrificed his sister._

 _He chuckled and wondered how the seraph would react once she realised she'd sacrificed an innocent girl to gain the boosted gear for Heaven only to have said gear refuse to work, the whole situation was inarguably fucked but even so a little amusing for Issei._

 _He got up from the bed that he hadn't left for anything in the past week apart from eating and bathroom breaks. He was done with sitting still, if that seraph wanted him that badly then it was time she stopped ignoring him, besides, he was getting bored doing nothing but thinking. Issei used the limited magic remaining from the boosted gear to materialise some clothes consisting of a black long sleeved top, black combat trousers, black combat boots and a black trench coat that reached to his mid calfs and changed into them, if he was going to see this bitch he'd make damn sure to stand out and make her regret ever saving him._

 _As he traversed the floors of Heaven, many angels looked his way as rolled their eyes or tutted at his blatant disrespect of the colour of Heaven, some even tried to attack him but since he was a Jack, his reflexes were above even skilled angels so he dodged each one who was stupid enough to try and knocked them out._

 _Eventually he reached a grand set of double doors around 10 meters tall and 5 meters wide._

 _"Showoffs" mumbled Issei as he was sure this grand display was the entrance to the main meeting room the seraphs used._

 _There were gasps, grumbles and many dirty looks as he threw open the doors and strolled into the room uncaring he'd interrupted an important meeting._

 _"I-Issei" choked out Gabriel as she tried to hide her embarrassment at her newest servant's rude intrusion._

 _"I'm bored of sitting around Gabe, if you wanted me that badly that you sacrificed my sister then why the hell are you leaving me in that room?" asked Issei cockily._

 _Every seraph turned to Gabriel to confirm the accusation Issei had just made, their disgust at her skyrocketed when she made no attempt to refuse the point, tuts, evil glances and mumbled insults filled the room, but one reply stood out, a chuckle._

 _Issei glanced over at the man who'd released the chuckle and was surprised to see he was a fallen, but since there was a meeting in progress he imagined the fallen was here on business, Issei was more intrigued as to why the fallen saw fit to chuckle at his accusation._

 _"What's so funny fallen?" asked Issei sternly, making the fallen laugh heartily._

 _"It's just the fact that so many people that step through those doors apologise and bow profusely but you come in spouting insults and accusations at the most respected woman in Heaven, you've got balls kid, I admire that" replied the fallen._

 _"So you think it's funny that my sister was sacrificed by that bitch do you?" asked Issei angrily._

 _"Not at all, I think it's disgusting to be honest, loss of life when it's avoidable is unacceptable" replied the fallen seriously._

 _This shocked Issei, a fallen had more morals than a seraph? Maybe they weren't all as evil as the one's who'd killed his parents._

 _"Good to know that someone in this room has some morals" stated Issei "What's your name?" he added._

 _"You can call me Azazel" replied the fallen._

 _"Then you can call me Issei" answered Issei with a grin which was returned by Azazel._

 _"I feel that we'll get along Issei" said Azazel._

 _"Me too" replied Issei as he left the room waving goodbye, not caring about the conversation he was supposed to have with Gabriel._

 _Flashback End_

"No... it was another fallen who went rogue after Azazel pulled the fallen angels out of the great war after realising the casualties would have been too great, our faith to god be damned" replied Raynare weakly as she struggled to stand from Issei's earlier attack, it being fueled by the unknown energy that still poured out of Issei now but to a much lesser extent.

Issei suppressed the new energy that was radiating from him, knelt down and helped Raynare to a pew she could sit on to be more comfortable.

"Who is your brother?" asked Issei.

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen him in a while, the last time I remember being with him was when he was hurt and I prayed for his recovery, after that, I have no memories of him. All I know is he's alive because I remember my prayer being answered, unfortunately my new boss knew that as well which is why he could use my brother as leverage" replied Raynare sadly.

"It's okay, we'll find him and then we can all take down this bastard of a boss you have" assured Issei as he hugged Raynare, knowing the pain of losing a sibling and not wanting Raynare to feel as he did.

"I'm so sorry about killing Asia, I couldn't find a way to avoid it no matter how hard I tried, my boss was always watching me, now she'll never be able to be your friend anymore" confessed Raynare as she teared up.

"Actually there is a way to have that happen" spoke another voice.

Issei and Raynare turned around to find Rias, having just said that, holding up an evil piece, a bishop to be exact.

"I think she'd enjoy being able to see you again Issei, she'd also make an excellent support piece, wouldn't you agree Raynare?" asked Rias as she motioned to the two rings Raynare wore on her fingers.

"Oh yes!" Raynare released as she took off the rings and handed them to Rias, for this revival to work the rings of twilight healing had to be where they were originally, even the evil pieces were limited in this aspect.

"Alright then" said Rias as she stood over Asia's body.

"I, Rias Gremory, command you Asia Argento to live again under my service, you will come back and aid me in my continuing existence" Chanted Rias as a red circle filled with runes and energy descended upon the form of Asia and with it the bishop piece entered her chest and the circle dissipated leaving behind the slowly breathing body of a now alive Asia.

Asia slowly opened her eyes and saw the ORC around her along with Issei and Raynare, she gasped and covered her eyes at the sight of the latter but after a quick explanation from Issei, Asia understood Raynare's motives and forgave her, before giving Issei a big hug.

"I'm so glad I was able to see you again Issei" said Asia in a happy tone.

"Same here Asia, let's go home" replied Issei.

Asia was puzzled at this statement.

"But we don't live together" said Asia, slightly confused.

"Well since you have nowhere to go because the church sent you here for a while with no other place to stay, I was thinking you could stay at my house if you'd like" replied Issei warmly.

"Thank you so much Issei!" Asia excitedly said her eyes lighting up brighter than the sun.

"No worries" replied Issei, smiling kindly. "Do you have anywhere to go Raynare?" asked Issei.

"No... since my boss will be displeased at these events, he probably look for me at my place to kill me so I can't go back, I don't want to either, i'd rather die than serve that bastard again" replied Raynare.

"You're welcome to stay at my place with me an Asia if you'd like, that ok with you Asia?" asked Issei.

"I'm happy to stay with you and Raynare since I understand this ordeal wasn't her fault" replied Asia with a smile.

"Then i'll be happy to take you up on your offer Issei" answered Raynare happily.

"Then let's go home you two, I'll be at the clubroom tomorrow before school if you need me Rias" said Issei as he took the hands of Raynare and Asia and walked out the shrine.

"Alright, i'll see you tomorrow Issei" Rias replied as she and her peerage teleported back to the clubroom.

Issei, Asia and Raynare appeared inside Issei's apartment, it was small for 3 people but Issei said he'd take the sofa bed while Raynare could have the room he used to use after he moved his stuff and Asia could have the guest room.

Once everything was sorted and Raynare and Asia were moved in, all three of them collapsed onto the sofa in the living room and sighed, it had been a very long couple of days...

 _ **Heyyy, it's ya boi Bk back at it again.**_

 _ **Sorry for the wait between this chapter and the last, writer's block has been a harsh mistress lately.**_

 _ **I'm going to stop giving estimates when the next chapter will be out because i've no idea what will happen in the future.**_

 _ **Thanks to everyone who reads, reviews and has followed me and I hope you all enjoy so until next time,**_

 _ **BK out :)**_


	7. Preparation

Blood filled the air as Issei took another devastating blow from the unknown assailant attacking him. This person was tough and Issei was already mentally and physically exhausted, the way he was, the fight wouldn't continue for much longer.

Issei jumped over the attacker and spun around to deliver and punch to the back, only to have it blocked by a quick roundhouse kick from the assailant who then brutally uppercut Issei and laughed as he flew to the floor, bloody and beaten.

"Hahaha, how pathetic, here I thought the mighty red dragon emperor would have more fight in him, how disappointing" gloated the attacker as he laughed deeply and darkly.

"Urrgh, y-you piece of-" growled Issei painfully before he was interrupted by a kick to the face that sent him flying into a wall.

Issei slumped down to the ground slowly and lay there bleeding profusely. He looked to his left and say the lifeless body of Asia, her twilight healing shattered on the ground next to her, Issei looked to the right and saw Raynare in the same state, her wings all ripped out roughly and her skull caved in.

Tears escaped his eyes as Issei squeezed them shut and prepared for his end.

"Issei Hyoudou, unless you want this to happen you must grow stronger, now... WAKE UP".

Issei woke with a start, drenched in a cold sweat. He looked around and saw he was on his couch accompanied by the two women he thought he'd just lost. He saw they were both sleeping blissfully and decided to quietly wiggle out of their grasp to get some food without waking them.

Issei stepped into the kitchen and opened the fridge, after pondering for a moment he settled on a glass of milk and a banana. He poured milk into a glass, grabbed a banana from the bunch in the fruit basket on the counter and sat at the island (counter in the middle of the kitchen you can sit at) to reflect on his dream. While he wasn't one to typically believe in visions of the future through dream, Issei had to admit that the dream he'd just experienced felt as real as the milk he was drinking.

Issei sighed heavily, pondering upon the identity of the attacker in his dream and the meaning of getting stronger than he was, before being awoken from his thoughts by a gentle hand on his back.

He turned around to see Raynare behind him wearing an expression he couldn't quite make out but there was a tinge of worry to it.

"You okay?" asked Raynare, her voice laced with concern.

"I'm... fine" Issei replied, pausing mid reply.

Raynare gently took a hold of Issei's head and turned it to face her.

"I can tell you're not" insisted Raynare in a soft voice, this would require some coaxing to ensure she knew what was bothering the man who helped her cut her ties with the evil she had been ensnared in.

Issei sighed in response, she wasn't going to let up about it until he told her about the dream so he just came out with it.

"I had a dream where a masked assailant killed you and Asia then told me to get stronger unless I really wanted that to happen, then they told me to wake up and that's when I so" answered Issei bluntly.

"Well... that was unexpected" replied Raynare in a surprised voice, she hadn't thought of Issei as the type to form strong enough bonds to dream about them being taken from him, it was a natural thing for lovers, siblings, parents, but for two people he met a couple of days ago? It was strange without a doubt.

"Really?" asked Issei whilst he ate his banana.

"Yeah, I didn't think you were the type to form strong bonds after all that has happened to you, especially not as quickly as you have with me and Asia, the dream you described is basically your mind telling you to become stronger to protect the people you love, I can only assume those people are me and Asia since we were the only others in your dream" explained Raynare, she learnt a lot about reading men form her... past work.

Issei surprised to say the least, he knew that Raynare was clever from their past encounters but he had no idea of the true extent of Raynare's judgement, this girl has seen straight through him and understood the dream he'd been stumped by perfectly. But if she was correct, that meant he felt... Issei looked over to the still sleeping Asia and then to Raynare next to him, his face turned as scarlet as his balance breaker.

"Hahaha, it seems you just understood the full meaning of my explanation" chuckled Raynare, knowing exactly what has caused the boy to blush so much.

Issei did not like how easily this woman saw through him.

He stood up with a small smile and hugged Raynare who blushed behind Issei's back and returned the hug shortly after. Just before he went upstairs he leaned in close to Raynare and whispered in her ear.

"Don't think I didn't see that" Issei whispered playfully, with that he left the room and a steadily growing blushing Raynare behind.

Issei climbed the stairs to his room and closed the door behind him. Looking over at the clock, he saw it was 3am.

"Crap, I have to get up for school at 8am, there's no way i'll be able to get back to sleep after that... little session" he thought aloud.

He looked at his left hand where Ddraig resided and realised that he hadn't properly talked to Ddraig outside of battle since their conversation in Heaven. There was plenty of time before he needed to leave so he decided to become better acquainted with his partner.

"Hey Ddraig" Issei called.

 **(Issei?)** answered Ddraig with some confusion, he hadn't expected to be contacted by his host.

"Can you pull me into the gear, i'd like to speak to you in private?" asked Issei.

 **(Alright)** replied the dragon as he pulled Issei into the gear where he was sealed.

Issei awoke in a dark place filled with fire, it was hard to see around but that problem was soon resolved when his vision lit up enough to see the whole area and by extension, the massive red dragon in front of him.

 **(I wasn't expecting you to want to talk to me, what's so important?)** asked Ddraig, confused at why his partner has suddenly asked to speak with him here.

"I wanted to get to know you" replied Issei.

 **(What?)** replied Ddraig, even more confused than before.

"Do you remember the first time we spoke to each other?" asked Issei.

 **(Of course I do, it was just after you'd been saved by Gabriel)** replied the dragon. Even he tensed slightly at the spike in Issei's aura at the mention of the female seraph, it was probably best to avoid the name.

"Yes... well, we spoke then and introduced ourselves but we never got the chance to really get to know each other before I found out about my sister and..." Issei paused at the recollection of his sister's sacrifice and the year he'd spent in ignorance of Ddraig's feelings about having a host that wanted to die.

"For a year I ignored you, never tried to reach out or climb out of the pit of despair I was wallowing in, I never thought about how you felt about having to live a whole year with the only person you could talk to wanting to die and get away from you as soon as possible. For that, I apologise, but that was then and this is now, right now we have the time and the chance to start over, to sit down and understand each other. So what do you say Ddraig, shall we leave the past behind and start anew?" asked Issei.

Ddraig was shocked, he hadn't realised that his partner felt this much regret and sorrow for allowing himself to isolate the dragon for a whole year, not only had he emerged from the depths of despair and swore to protect everyone he cared about, but now Issei wanted to make amends with him and start their relationship on a new, good term.

 **(Issei... I would very much appreciate that)** answered Ddraig with happiness evident in his voice, finally he'd be able to speak with the one his soul was bonded to.

"Good, ok so, my name is Issei Hyoudou, i'm 17 years old and I attend Kuoh Acadamy" Issei stated.

 **(Pleased to properly meet you Issei, my name is Ddraig, I am the welsh dragon of domination sealed within this sacred gear you possess called the boosted gear)** replied Ddraig.

"Do you know how well I can use the gear currently Ddraig?" asked Issei.

 **(Currently you have unlocked balance breaker as well as another ability called the juggernaut drive but I suggest you stay away from the latter since unless you have complete mastery of it, the form will shred your life force apart)** answered Ddraig.

"Any idea how far along I am to mastering the juggernaut drive" asked Issei.

 **(If I had to guess i'd assume about 27% as of today)** replied Ddraig.

"When did that progress start?" asked Issei.

 **(It began the moment we first spoke but only went up around 2% until you activated balance breaker due to the lack of use of the boosted gear, once you entered balance breaker it shot up 25%, I predict that if you continue to grow like you are now, mastery of the juggernaut drive will take a few weeks at most)** answered Ddraig.

"That's good, if the dream I had was a vision of the future then that may be the power boost I need" stated Issei.

 **(I also saw the dream you had Issei, be careful though, a need for power to protect others can easily be corrupted by the right people, even the strongest wielders of the boosted gear succumbed to it)** warned Ddraig.

"I will be Ddraig, i'm not going to do anything reckless like sacrifice an arm for power or anything ( ;) )" Issei assured the dragon.

 **(That's good to hear. Now as nice as it's been to properly talk to you partner you're late for school)** Ddraig reminded Issei.

"WHAT!?" yelled Issei as he quickly came out of the gear and back to the human world.

Looking at his clock, Issei found that the time was 8:30am, class was starting in 5 minutes and he still wasn't even dressed.

"Aw fuck" cursed Issei as he subsequently turned into a red tornado rushing around the house and then out the door.

Issei arrived at the academy somehow just in time for class but not quick enough to attend the ORC clubroom for the meeting he'd scheduled with Rias.

"I'll have to apologise to Rias when I go to the clubroom after school, I only just have enough time to get to my class" Issei said to himself as he ran through the halls of the academy, making it to his class just in time.

The bell rang to signal lunchtime. Issei stood up from his desk, stretched and made his way back through the halls and out to the grounds of the Academy. Once outside he picked a tall tree with dark green leaves and sat down at it's base. He reached into his bag, pulled out the hastily made sandwiches he'd crafted for himself this morning and took slow bites of it as he leaned back into the trunk of the tree.

Just as the boy was about to drift off into slumber a familiar face appeared next to him and sat down with no regard for his personal space.

"What the hell" mumbled Issei as he opened his eyes and felt no surprise once he realised who was rudely interrupting his naptime.

"Bloody hell Ray I was just about to sleep" groaned Issei, annoyed that his chance at rest had been robbed.

"Sorry Issei I-" Raynare stopped when she realised the nickname Issei had called her.

"Ray?" questioned Raynare.

"I'm tired" stated Issei, clearly not fully awake.

"I like it" replied Raynare.

"You do?" asked Issei, who'd been fully awoken by her unexpected show of cuteness.

"Yes I do... Ise" Raynare replied, testing her own nickname for Issei.

Issei smiled at the mention of his new nickname and nodded to let Raynare know he liked it. Raynare then leant back into Issei's chest and closed her eyes which Issei responded to by softly chuckling, he wrapped his arms gently around her waist, leant back into the tree trunk and closed his eyes once more.

It was late evening by the time Issei awoke, initially stressed that he'd missed his afternoon classes, he realised that nothing could be done about it and the class was boring anyway so he just stared up at the sky for a further 10 minutes until Raynare started to shift in his arms and her eyes fluttered open.

Raynare blushed rose red once she saw the position she was in with Issei but the feeling of warmth and comfort he gave her won against her embarrassment so she just adjusted herself so she could look at Issei and smiled.

"Evening sleepy head" remarked Issei with a small smile adorning his face.

"What?" Raynare questioned before she looked at the setting sun and jumped up in shock as she realised just how long they'd both slept.

"Oh god Ise i'm sorry, I made you miss your classes" apologised Raynare as she bowed before Issei.

Issei stood up and cupped Raynare's face with his hands, bringing it up and making eye contact with her.

"It's fine Ray, those classes were boring anyway, besides, I enjoyed our little nap together much more" Issei replied his words becoming quieter as he said the last part of his sentence.

"I- um- well" stuttered Raynare as she blushed brighter than the sun.

"Wow, it looks like you enjoyed it more than I thought, your blush is deeper than Rias' hair" chuckled Issei before he remembered the meeting he'd missed with Rias this morning and how he was going to see her straight after school.

"Oh crap I just realised I meant to go and see Rias right after school since I missed our meeting this morning because I was late" yelled Issei.

"So that's why you turned into a tornado and flew out the house that fast" replied Raynare understanding Issei's unusual behavior from that morning.

"Yes that was why, sorry Ray but i've gotta go and see her now, I might make it since she usually stays pretty late to deal with club matters" Issei told Raynare as he rushed towards the ORC clubroom.

As he was running across the grounds he realised Raynare was following him and turned to face her once they were at the clubroom.

"What're you doing?" Issei asked.

"Well I might as well come with you since they may have some questions for me due to my fallen status and i'm already here" replied Raynare.

"Also I want to spend a little more time with you" she muttered quietly to herself, unaware that Issei had managed to hear.

"Alright then, let's go together" Issei said, smiling as he took her hand and climbed the stairs up to the doors of the clubroom, a fire lit up in both their hearts upon contact and both recipients knew the other meant more to them that they'd first thought.

Upon entering the room, the atmosphere noticeably became more tense as Raynare locked eyes with a shocked and disgusted looking Akeno. Sparks literally threatened to fly as Akeno's hand cackled with her lightning until Rias placed as hand on her shoulder. Akeno calmed herself but remained on guard as Issei mentally cursed himself for bringing a fallen into contact with her when she was already struggling with her heritage.

Issei sent Akeno an apologetic glance before turning to Rias.

"Rias i'm sorry I missed our meeting this morning, I was catching up with Ddraig and lost track of time, by the time I got here it was already time for class" apologised Issei.

"It's fine, I was a little busy this morning myself, why don't we all sit down" replied Rias.

Everyone moved to the other side of the room and sat down upon the couches. Rias and Akeno occupied one, Koneko and Kiba took another and Issei and Raynare took a third.

"Right, down to business, this involves the whole peerage so do you know where Asia is" asked Rias.

"She's at my house sleeping right now, I can fill her in on the information you share tonight" replied Issei.

"Very well, as you know the rating game with Raiser approaches, we only have 2 weeks before the official date, which is why I wanted to ask you something Issei" stated Rias.

"What would that be?" asked Issei.

"I would like you and Asia to accompany us to my estate in the underworld for a 10 day training tip to prepare for the rating game" answered Rias.

"What about my classes?" asked Issei.

"My friend Sona is the student council president, she owes me a favor so I should be able to get her to cover your absence" replied Rias.

"I see" said Issei, while the trip was sudden it would benefit the whole peerage and possibly even himself in the long run, there was only one thing that was left loose.

"What about Raynare?" asked Issei, earning surprised looks from Raynare and Rias and an upset look from Akeno.

"What do you mean" asked Rias.

"What would Raynare do during our trip, we can't just leave her alone at my house, what if her old boss sends people to kill her, i'm not saying she's weak but this guys seems like he'd have the power to send more than she could handle" stated Issei.

"Well what do you propose we do about this then?" asked Rias.

"You still have a free knight piece don't you Rias?" questioned Issei.

"Yes I do, are you asking me to reincarnate Raynare into my second knight?" asked Rias.

"I am, I believe she would be a great asset to the team, she can move almost as fast as me in my balance breaker with her wings, with a little training she could be the fastest person on the team" insisted Issei.

"Are you sure i'd be able to help?" Raynare asked Issei a little uncertain if she was valuable enough for the role of a knight.

"I'm sure Ray, you're an excellent fighter and I wasn't exaggerating the speed I believe you could reach, so Rias?" Issei assured Raynare before turning back to Rias.

Slightly disheartened along with all the girls of the ORC upon noticing the affectionate nickname Issei used to address Raynare, Rias answered her pawn.

"Very well, if this is your price to accompany us on our training trip then I accept" replied Rias as she took a knight chess piece out of her pocket.

Issei gave Raynare a reassuring glance before she stood up and walked over to Rias. A crimson red magical circle appeared on the ground and Rias told Raynare to lie in the middle of the circle before placing the knight piece on her chest. The piece glowed crimson and was absorbed by Raynare who then stood up and let out her wings.

"Wow" she mustered.

Her left fallen wing had been replaced by a devil wing while her right wing had been left untouched, she was now the second fallen/devil hybrid. Akeno stepped forward and looked at Raynare's wings for a while before holding out her hand for Raynare to shake. The newer hybrid did just that and created a bond between the two fallen/devil hybrids in the world.

Everyone smiled at the scene, Akeno had finally found someone with the same biology as her to relate to, the woman in question was finally able to feel some sort of peace with her being, she was far from healed from the scars her past and father had left her but they were for another day, the peace she felt now was the important matter.

Eventually after many smiles and a few tears, Rias spoke up.

"Everyone, i'd like to thank you all for being a part of my peerage, without you all I could not be as happy as I am right now, I know for sure we can win this rating game and show that fried chicken who the future kings will be" stated Rias to unanimous applause and support from everyone in the room.

"The training trip begins tomorrow, so everyone be here bright and early" she reminded the group while looking at Issei with mock seriousness.

"Okay I got ya" Issei blurted out a little more formally that he would have liked, earning another round of laughter from the rest of the group.

It was a long road to get here, it began with deep loss and the path to this moment was paved with many hardships but Issei had made it, he'd found a reason to tear through the darkness, these people were his reason to live and he would protect them with his life.

 _ **I'M BACK BITCHES**_

 _ **The writer's block was a hard obstacle to overcome but like Issei, I have emerged and found a new purpose to live/write for.**_

 _ **Did that sound cringy, probably, do I give a fuck, hell nah :P**_

 _ **Hope ya'll enjoy the longest chapter yet and don't worry, I have a lot of this stuff planned out ahead so while ya might have to wait a bit, the ride ain't ending anytime soon.**_

 _ **So thank you to all who read, review and moo. Until next time,**_

 _ **BK out**_


	8. Training

The meeting of the Gremory peerage had been a very enjoyable experience for Issei. Not only were they about to train and become stronger, they were going to show that fried chicken his proper place and free Rias from her fate as his wife.

As he walked back to his apartment with Raynare to inform Asia of the trip tomorrow, he was deep in thought. He'd finally found people he cared about, who made him care, he wanted to train as hard as he could to protect them. However there was a small feeling of fear deep in his mind, the images of his previous dream resurfaced and he imagined not only Raynare and Asia killed but the whole Gremory peerage as well.

This train of thought was abruptly interrupted by Raynare who placed a hand on Issei's shoulder, something he'd grown to expect but like from the new hybrid.

"You okay Ise" Raynare asked.

"I'm fine Ray" replied Issei.

"You know you're gonna have to get better at lying if you want to fool me" remarked Raynare.

Issei sighed.

"Am I really that transparent?" he asked.

"To me, yes, to the rest of the peerage, i'm not so sure, but you should keep an eye on the girl with white hair, I sense a great amount of aura reading potential from her" answered Raynare.

"Koneko? I guess she's a little more perceptive than the rest of the group, well behind the master of deviousness of course" Issei chuckled while gesturing towards Raynare.

Raynare's face glowed red as her expression turned from embarrassed to a playful pout within seconds.

"Ise, you know I didn't mean it" replied Raynare jokingly.

"Of course I do" assured Issei with a warm smile.

Their conversation was interrupted by their arrival at Issei's apartment. Issei took out his keys and unlocked the front door before stepping inside and hearing the low sound of the T.V and seeing a sleeping Asia on the couch.

Issei chuckled at the sight. He wished he could let Asia keep sleeping but he had to inform her about the training trip and Raynare's new status before the morning, so he quietly made his way over to the couch, sat down next to Asia and gently shook her to rouse her from slumber.

"waah?" mumbled Asia before realising where she was and who had awoken her.

"Hey Issei, i'm glad you're back, it was getting a little boring on my own" stated Asia.

"Sorry about that, I was late for school this morning so I had to leave quickly, me and Raynare just got back" replied Issei.

"Why was Raynare at school with you?" questioned Asia.

"She decided to show up without my prior knowledge" replied Issei, sending a look of mock annoyance to Raynare.

"But in the end it was for the best, you see there's a couple of things I need to tell you about since you're a part of the Gremory peerage" continued Issei.

"Ok?" replied Asia.

"First, there will be a training trip for all the Gremory peerage members, it will last for 10 days and is to prepare us for the upcoming rating game between Rias and Riser Phoenix" stated Issei.

"What's a rating game?" asked Asia.

"It's a competition where two peerages battle until the king is retired or surrenders" answered Issei.

Asia's face turned into a look of worry when Issei mentioned a battle.

"Don't worry Asia, you're a bishop so you'll probably stay in the rear as support, I promise you won't have to kill anyone" assured Issei.

"O-okay Issei, I trust you" replied Asia, still a little nervous.

Issei smiled at her words.

"The second thing is that since she wouldn't have anywhere to go while we're on the trip and she is a very capable fighter, I asked Rias to reincarnate Raynare as her second knight piece, due to her insane speed" stated Issei.

Asia let out a small gasp and looked at Raynare for confirmation who happily spred her hybrid wings.

"Wow, they're so beautiful Raynare" muttered Asia in awe as she inspected them.

"Thanks Asia" replied Raynare who smiled at the thought of Asia warming up to her a little more after their history.

"Right well, it's time for bed everyone, we need to be up and at the ORC clubroom early tomorrow morning and I want everyone to have had a good night's sleep and be in top form ready to train" reminded Issei as he ushered the two girls along upstairs before returning downstairs and unfolding the sofa bed in the living room. He lay down upon the bed and closed his eyes to sleep.

Just before drifting off, Issei felt the bed move. He opened his eyes to see a sleeping Asia to his left and a sleeping Raynare to his right. He slowly lifted the covers above both of them and confirmed his suspicions, they were both as naked as they day they were born. A whirlwind of thoughts and emotions where spinning around Issei's head currently and it didn't help that he was wearing only boxers, thank the lord he hadn't gone commando.

As if on cue his head split open in pain from the accidental prayer he'd given. In the end he was tired, he wanted to sleep and if these two beautiful naked ladies wanted to do it next to him... well then who the hell was he to refuse their wishes. Issei closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep with a massive perverted grin on his face and the covers over him raised ever so slightly ;).

The next morning the sun had risen and the birds were chirping outside. Issei scrunched his eyes up as he slowly awoke from the sunlight invading his line of sight. Eventually he open his eyes and remembered his situation, Raynare and Asia were still asleep on either side of him but during the night they'd somehow hooked an arm and leg each around Issei so escaping their clutches without waking them would be incredibly difficult.

As he was thinking about possible exit strategy, Issei looked over at the clock on the wall. It read 7:45 am, for once he wasn't late, the peerage had agreed to meet at 9am sharp which gave him a leisurely hour and 15 minutes to get up and get ready. So time was on his side in figuring out how to escape his current predicament, then an evil smile crept onto his face.

"Ddraig" Issei called mentally.

A loud yawn was heard within his mind before a sleepy voice answered his call.

 **(Yes partner?)** asked the dragon.

"What would happen if you boosted my arms and legs and I transferred it to these two?" asked Issei with a mischievous grin.

The dragon only chuckled evilly before boosting Issei's arms and legs by 5.

"Transfer" Issei giggled out.

The results of this little devious act became apparent very quickly. Both female's eyes shot open as they squealed loud enough to break windows before launching themselves off the bed.

Raynare ended up on the floor, face down on her stomach with her ass in the air giving Issei quite the nice view, while Asia somehow ended upside down against a wall, her head obscured by her chest which had fallen victim to gravity.

Issei roared with laughter at the scene he'd caused until the two righted themselves and stood before Issei with a glare that could make Hades shit himself.

"Oh no" muttered Issei.

An hour later and all three were walking to school to meetup with the rest of the peerage. Both Raynare and Asia were happily whistling as they walked together, while Issei was further back covered with so many black and blue bruises you'd think he was the surface of the moon.

"Worthit" he quietly wheezed out, not quiet enough unfortunately since the two in front spun round faster than sound.

"When the hell will I keep my mouth shut" Issei asked himself.

The trio arrived at the academy and walked over to the ORC clubroom, immediately as they entered, the other members of the club looked in shock at Issei's beaten appearance.

"Oh my, what happened to you Issei?" asked Rias with concern.

"I made a very bad decision" he replied laughing nervously at Raynare and Asia who were not laughing.

"Anyway, let's begin the training trip" Rias stated.

Rias summoned and magical circle and asked everyone to step on it. Once they had it teleported them to an open green field. If one looked closely enough they could see a mansion in the distance on top of a huge mountain that lay in front of them. Rias then used her magic to create a backpack for each person including herself.

"Each of these backpacks have weight magic on them, you will all carry one to the top of the mountain, of course not all of them are equal since some have more strength than others here so i've taken the liberty of infusing extra magic for Koneko and Issei since they possess far more strength than the rest of us" stated Rias as she picked up the backpack for herself and grunted at the weight of it, obviously not realising how heaving it actually was.

Everyone picked up their backpacks except Koneko and Issei. Koneko struggled to lift her pack even with the immense amount of strength she possessed whereas Issei pick his up with one arm before speaking to Rias.

"Hey Rias, could I put some more weight on this since I can lift it with one arm" Issei stated as he did so to prove his point.

"Um, sure" replied Rias, quite shocked at how much more powerful Issei was than she thought, everyone was the same, they were in awe of the sheer strength Issei posessed, Koneko looked with wide eyes and slightly wet panties at Issei lifting the bag with one hand as he increased the weight immensely. In the end Issei finally found a weight that challenged him that would probably blow a hole straight through the earth if he threw it hard enough.

The group recovered from their shock eventually and began the climb up the mountain. If anyone wasn't completely in awe of Issei strength before, they were now since he was literally sprinting up the mountain almost unimpaired by the bag.

To no one's surprise, he made it to the top first followed by Koneko, then Raynare, the Akeno, then Kiba, then Rias. Finally Asia stumbled to the top and collapsed on her back, followed by the rest of the group other than Issei and Koneko who naturally had a higher tolerance to the strain of the weight due to their strength. After a 10 minute rest, the group all managed to enter the Gremory mansion and were told by Rias to find their rooms and get settled in before lunch.

Once lunch was finished, the group headed outside to the open field near the mansion and lined up upon Rias' request. Each person was given a specific type of train that would strengthen their core piece ability while also decreasing their weakness.

Rias gave herself the task of increasing the destructive power of her power of ruin while also being able to control the power and form it into any shape she wished.

Akeno was given the task of learning different hand to hand combat styles and how to power them up further by embedding her lighting into the attacks to cover her close quarters combat weakness.

Kiba was given the task of hitting a target that could show the force behind a strike, he was to balance his speed and strength to hit the target with enough force fast enough to pass a certain criteria set by Rias that could be increased as he became stronger to ensure that his strikes were fast but also hit hard enough to do a good amount of damage.

Koneko was given the task of running laps of the estate in weight magic to increase her speed and stamina, after one lap she would have to punch targets that became tougher each time they were destroyed, this would increase her strength even more and allow her to gain experience on how to put power into a strike when extremely fatigued from an earlier event.

Asia was given the task of learning how to efficiently heal a target in a shorter amount of time as well as learning how to spread her healing power to more than one person and be able to heal them as fast and efficiently as one.

Raynare was given the task of flying around the estate with weight magic on her wings to increase her already fast speed even further, she was also told to focus on creating stronger light weapons in a shorter amount of time that would cover all ranges such as a spear for long range, a sword for short range and a gun for mid range.

Issei was the final person Rias came to, everyone had already gone off to begin their training so Rias could speak openly with her pawn.

"Issei, I honestly have no idea how to train you, you're already more powerful than all of us so there's really nothing I can teach you, i'm sorry" Rias apologised.

"No worries Rias, I have a few new ideas i'd like to test in mind, if all goes well I may have a few new abilities to debut in the rating game" Issei assured her with a determined smile.

"Well i'll get to my training and allow you to start on yours then" Rias replied with a smile.

"Thank you Rias, as your only pawn, I won't let you down" Issei stated before walking into the nearby woods to begin his training.

"I know you won't Issei" Rias said to herself fondly as she began training of her own.

 _ **Hey everyone, bet ya'll didn't expect to see me so soon eh?**_

 _ **Well I had nothing going on and my writer's spark is still burning brightly so I thought i'd write the training trip chapter.**_

 _ **Now I know it's quite short and doesn't have much actual training detail but i'll be honest, I have no idea how to write training and once I got to the end of the chapter there really wasn't anything else i could put since I wanted to start the Riser rating game on a fresh chapter.**_

 _ **So look forward to the next chapter which will be the Riser rating game and there will be action this time, I promise, Issei may even have a few new abilities to show off like he said ;)**_

 _ **Thank you all for reading, reviewing and mooing. Until next time,**_

 _ **BK out**_


	9. Feelings

It had been 9 days and the Gremory Peerage were all exhausted from the training they'd put themselves through the past week or so. The two that had been hit the most were obviously Issei and Koneko since they started the strongest so they had to work even harder to improve themselves. However they had done it and both had come out the other side stronger and with a few new abilities each.

It was late evening and the group were relaxing in the living room of the Gremory mansion. Tomorrow would be the day they'd return to face off against Riser Phoenix and his peerage in a rating game to determine Rias' future. Rias stood up suddenly and addressed the group.

"Everyone, i'd like to say just how proud I am of the hard work you've all put into your training, everyone has given 110% and improved themselves by a massive amount. It's late now so i'd like everyone to go to their rooms and get a good night's sleep for tomorrow, it's a big day after all" announced Rias with pride but also a hint of nervousness when remembering just what they were up against the next day, a phoenix, the immortal bird with unparalleled regenerative abilities.

One by one, all the members of the peerage slowly filed out the room towards their rooms followed lastly by Rias who turned off the lights. Everyone said their last goodnights before retiring to their respective rooms.

Issei closed his door and let out a small sigh, the training trip had been especially rough since he'd been following Ddraig's sadistic workout routine. The damn dragon was a hard ass who pushed him to the limit and never let up, but Issei knew it was all for his future benefit and deep down his partner cared quite deeply about him.

 **(You wish)** remarked a sarcastic voice.

"Aww c'mon Ddraig, just admit it, you do care about me even just a little bit" replied Issei playfully.

A deep grumble was all he heard in response from the dragon before Ddraig resumed his earlier nap, snoring a little louder than usual in an effort to annoy his partner for the embarrassment he'd been put through. Issei rolled his eyes at the dragon's immature attempt to get back at his before changing into his pjs and collapsing onto the bed for a well deserved rest.

A few hours of sleep went by for Issei before a particularly vivid nightmare, not unlike his first back in Kuoh, awoke him from his slumber and ensured he was unable to fall back to sleep for a while. He checked the clock on the wall and saw it was 3am, Issei groaned.

"Looks like I'll have to find something to do since I'm not getting back to sleep anytime soon" Issei told himself before quietly opening his window and nimbly jumping to the ground below.

Issei decided to go to the gazebo that was just a short walk away in the fields surrounding the mansion. The path there was paved with stone and the gazebo itself was a large prestigious shape painted a pearl white colour. Once he found himself under the gazebo, Issei sat down on one of the benches and looked up and the star filled sky, it was a beautiful midnight blue with bright white shining stars and even a few shooting stars tinted baby blue in colour. Issei felt like he could just sit here and look up into the sky forever, until a familiar voice called out to him.

"Hey Issei" a certain red head called out.

Issei turned his head and smiled upon seeing Rias walking over to him with a book in hand, apparently she'd had trouble sleeping also and though of reading a book under the night's sky, not a bad idea Issei had to admit.

"Hey Rias, can't sleep?" Issei asked the red head.

"No... i'm too nervous about the rating game tomorrow" Rias admitted with a look of worry.

Issei looked Rias in the eye and saw the worry she hid behind the facade of confidence she had put up for her peerage.

"It's okay to be worried, we're all human... okay maybe that's not the best turn of phrase but you get what I mean" Issei told Rias, stopping himself mid sentence and chuckling while he realised the irony of that phrase to them.

Rias let out a small giggle at Issei's slip before sitting beside him and setting her book down beside her.

"I know, but it's hard to shake this nervous feeling given the stakes of this match, if we lose i'll be married to that pig forever" replied Rias, tearing up slightly near the end.

Issei reached into his pocket and brought out the hankie he carried with him as a reminder of his sister to dry the tears coming from the red head, then looked her in the eyes and smiled.

"Don't worry Rias, we'll all do our best to beat that fried chicken, he won't stand a chance against us" Issei reassured her with a comforting smile.

Rias returned the smile and looked into Issei's eyes, visibly more relaxed. She scooted closer to Issei on the bench and lay her head on his shoulder to which Issei was a little surprised but allowed it since she obviously needed it right now.

"Thank you Issei" Rias said with a small smile.

"No problem, anything I can do to help you i'll gladly perform" replied Issei with a grin.

Upon hearing this, the red headed princess was overcome with happiness and a feeling of attraction towards the man beside her, leaning across his arm she moved her head towards his, closed her eyes and readied her lips. However before she could complete the kiss, Issei's hand moved into the path of her lips and stopped the kiss. Rias reeled back in surprise and looked over to Issei who had a sympathetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry Rias, I- I just-" Issei stuttered.

Rias' eyes began to tear up but she turned away before Issei saw, or so she thought. Issei now knew how Rias felt and it made him feel very guilty because he did like Rias but Raynare was the person he'd fallen for. (Pun entirely intended)

Issei extended a hand to Rias' shoulder to try and comfort her but it was swatted away by Rias before she ran back to the mansion. Issei slumped down onto the bench behind him and sighed deeply. This would affect his relationship with her from now for a while and he had no idea how to fix it, all he could do was hope that she wouldn't lose focus in the game due to this.

After a while Issei stood up with a small groan and decided to return to his room for a couple of hours nap since it was 5am and they weren't returning for the game until 12pm. On the way he was lost in thoughts concerning his feelings about Rias and Raynare, while he did feel something more than friendship with Rias, Raynare had been there to comfort him and she came to the academy to see him when she didn't have to, he just felt a stronger attraction to Raynare than Rias.

"Hopefully I can talk to Rias about this and make sure she's ok before the game, i'd hate for her to lose because I clouded her mind" Issei muttered aloud as he walked along the path.

"Talk about what?" asked a sexy voice.

Issei turned to his right and saw the person he'd just been thinking about.

"Hey Ray" greeted Issei.

"Hey, what's going on with you and the princess?" Raynare inquired once again.

Issei sighed heavily and relayed the encounter between himself and Rias to Raynare in a pained tone that told the fallen angel that having to denying Rias' advances like that had hurt the young man greatly, not to mention the princess herself.

"Ise... I'm sorry you were put in that position, I have to ask though, why did you reject her? Do you just not like her that way?" Raynare asked.

"It's not that I don't like her, it's because I have someone in my life that I see that way more than Rias" Issei replied simply.

"I see..." Raynare trailed off before jumping in front of Issei and swaying her hips seductively.

"So who's this mystery crush you have?" Raynare inquired.

"Haha, nice try, i'm not telling anyone that easily" Issei chuckled.

"Aww" Raynare replied while pouting as the two arrived back at the mansion.

Issei said goodnight to Raynare and made his way back up to his room. He closed the window he jumped out of earlier and lay down upon the double bed. Issei thought about his feelings towards Rias and Raynare, while it was a little mixed up, he still knew deep down that he felt a stronger connection to Raynare and could only hope that Rias would come to terms with that without being distracted from the upcoming game.

A few hours later Issei was awoken by shuffling in the hallway which he assumed was one the team making their way downstairs. He looked at the clock and saw it was 10am, deciding to get up, Issei had a shower, dressed himself in a black long sleeved top, black jeans and monochrome sneakers before finally putting on a red trench coat that was short sleeved and went down to his knees.

Issei turned to the mirror and smoothed his clothes while fixing his bedhead. What he was really doing was stalling for time so he didn't have to speak with Rias before the game as he feared a conversation would only make it worse. Begrudgingly he admitted there was nothing else for him to do in his room so he made his way downstairs.

The first person Issei saw was Kiba in the kitchen making some breakfast, Issei smiled at him which was responded to by a wave from the blonde before continuing to the dining table.

Koneko and Akeno were happily discussing their new moves while Asia was quietly eating her food, the blond nun seemed to be distracted by thought however as every time she went to eat the food dropped off her fork back onto the plate.

Issei walked over to the table and sat down next to Asia. The blond nun took a moment to register that someone had sat beside her before she greeted Issei with a smile that he could tell was forced.

"Asia are you okay?" asked Issei, concerned for his friend and comrade.

The nun took a moment to stare at the floor before lifting her head and answering the brunette.

"I-i'm... no, i'm not" she stuttered out, beginning with a lie that she was fine but admitting defeat and telling the truth halfway through her answer.

"What's wrong" asked Issei, now quite worried at what had the usually cheerful and bubbly nun so distracted and upset.

"Well I- it's just-" the nun stammered as she struggled to tell Issei what was bothering her.

"It's okay, you can tell me, is it about the game?" Issei asked in a soothing tone.

"Yes... I- i'm afraid that i'll be forced to hurt someone" the nun replied in a shaky tone.

Issei looked her in the eye for a moment deep in thought. He knew that Asia was a healer at heart so it must have been hard for her to learn offensive spells let alone think about using them.

"Asia, you'll be with Rias since she's the king and needs your protection, I promise you that you won't have to hurt anyone" Issei swore to Asia.

Asia's eyes welled up with tears as she felt a powerful feeling of gratefulness for her brunette friend.

"Thank you Issei, that makes me feel a lot better" Asia told Issei.

"No problem, now try to eat something before we leave, no good trying to concentrate on an empty stomach" Issei replied with a smile.

Issei noticed a flash of red hair enter the room and steeled himself for the conversation that was inevitably coming that would possibly shatter their friendship even more than it had been the previous night.

"Rias I-" started Issei before he realised than she had already sat down at the opposite end of the table with Akeno and Koneko and entered their conversation.

A wave of dread washed over Issei as he realised that her shouting at him for a bit wasn't going to happen, no she was going to bottle up her feelings and at the worst possible moment they'd explode and she'd do something she'd regret for a long time. He knew this exactly because it was all too familiar with his past behavior and the explosions from him had brought severe, long lasting consequences that even today he was suffering from.

Issei racked his brain for a way to have her spill her feeling to him in private so the damage would be lessened but at that moment Raynare came down and sat on his lap which shut down his cognitive thought process very effectively.

"Hey Ise" she greeted a little more than friendly.

"Hi Ray" Issei managed to shortly reply.

"How're you this morning, you looked pretty deep in though about something last night" Raynare asked the brunette.

"It's a little complicated to explain, but i'm working towards resolving the problem" replied Issei in a more confident tone than he felt.

"I've been thinking about last night and I know you have your eyes on someone if you rejected Rias but I just can't put my finger on who it may be since there are quite a few candidates" the fallen woman pondered aloud.

Issei's cheeks suddenly had a light dusting of pink over them and the boy put his hand over Raynare's mouth to stop her from being heard by the others.

"Not so loud Ray!" he said, ironically loud enough for everyone to hear and look over at the two in such an awkward position with Issei leaning over Raynare and his hand over her mouth.

Both of them blushed quite hard at being seen in such a position by the rest of the team and quickly sat straight to avoid any further embarrassment. The rest of the ORC resumed their previous activities pretty quickly with puzzled expressions except a certain red head who muttered a few words quiet enough so that only she heard.

"So it's her".

 _ **Hey people, i'm back (again).**_

 _ **Sorry it took so long but i'm in college again now and trying to balance it and learning to drive my own car which is taking up a lot of my free time.**_

 _ **This chapter has been in the works for a while and I know I promised the rating game here but I needed to get this out as it had some emotional setup that I can't do in the fight so I thought i'd get this out and start work on the fight ASAP.**_

 _ **Thanks to everyone who continues to read this story, I'm so sorry for the wait, I hope to try and get the next chapter out sooner. Until next time,**_

 _ **BK out :)**_


	10. Betrayal

A few hours after breakfast Grayfia appeared through a teleportation circle to inform the ORC that is was time to go to the venue of the rating game. The ORC all stepped into the prepared teleportation circle and were transported to their clubroom in an artificial dimension.

Most of the ORC looked around and out the window to see that the battlefield was a replica of Kuoh Academy and were puzzled as to why this had been chosen as the location for the rating game until Issei saw their confused expressions and decided to share his thoughts on the matter.

"I believe the school was chosen as the battleground since Rias is inexperienced at the art of the rating game so the higher ups decided to give her a familiar area as an advantage" Issei informed the group which was meet by nods of understanding and a flash of insecurity from Rias.

"A-alright, let's plan out our route" Rias stuttered, managing to regain her cool.

Rias went on to explain that Koneko, Raynare and Issei would go to the school's gym to secure it since the position would give a major tactical advantage considering it was halfway between the clubroom which was the base for the ORC and the new school building which was Riser's base. Meanwhile Akeno and Kiba would head through the center of the grounds and meet Riser's main forces while Asia and Rias herself would stay protected in the base since the game would be lost if the king was retired, but the two would come and join the rest of the peerage once they cleared the majority of Riser's forces.

Issei gave Rias a few glances during her speech thinking her plan over in his head and either agreeing or disagreeing with her at different points but he was suspicious when Rias mentioned she'd be staying here protected by Asia for the majority of the game while the rest of the peerage would be risking life and limb. Once the speech concluded everyone excused themselves for their tasks except Issei.

"Hey Ise, c'mon, we've got a job to do" Raynare called out to the brunette.

"You two go on ahead, i'll catch up soon" Issei replied.

Raynare looked puzzled and slightly worried for a moment before nodding to Issei and leaving for the gym with Koneko.

Issei closed the door to the clubroom and walked back over to Rias who was studying a map while Asia had gone to make some tea. Rias looked up with a surprised expression.

"Issei? I thought you'd already left" Rias questioned the boy.

"I need to ask you something" Issei replied which was met by a neutral face from Rias ushering him to continue.

"Why are you staying here with Asia when she could be so much more effective with the people who need her?" Issei asked rather heatedly.

Rias had not been expecting this but replied strongly once she regained her senses.

"Because due to my status as king I should stay protected for the game until the end with my healer" Rias replied.

"Rias stop being selfish, if you allowed Asia to come with me then she could heal the people doing the fighting and it'd make the game a lot more winnable for us" Issei said with a raised voice.

Rias was getting angrier by the minute, first she'd been rejected by Issei, then she'd been shown up at the start of the game and now he was trying to take her healer away when he already had a perfectly fine protector in Raynare.

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU NEED ASIA WHEN YOU HAVE THAT FALLEN SLUT WATCHING YOUR BACK" Rias yelled at Issei.

Issei was shocked for a moment at her outburst before registering what she'd said and began to growl while clenching his fists tight enough for his nails to draw blood.

"Don't you dare talk about Ray like that, she's 10x the woman you'll ever be you petty, spoiled brat" Issei spat as Asia came back into the room.

"W-what's going on with you two?" she asked slightly scared at the tones being used.

"We're leaving, c'mon Asia" Issei told the girl as he took her hand and pulled her out the clubroom slightly harder than he would normally.

"Issei... please don't go..." Rias trailed off as her face filled with tears and an expression of regret once she realised what she had said.

Issei and Asia didn't speak on the way to the gym, after an awkward few minutes they arrived at their destination to see Raynare fighting two pawns of Riser while Koneko was fighting a fellow rook. The white haired girl looked worse for wear, her clothes were tattered and her exposed skin was covered in cuts and burns from the rook's fire augmented attacks.

"Asia, i'm going to switch with Koneko, once I have start healing her immediately, we'll need her strength later on" Issei instructed Asia before heading over to where Koneko was fighting the rook.

Issei saw the rook raise a leg for a high kick and took the chance to rush in front of Koneko and block the kick to both girl's surprise.

"Koneko, go over to Asia, she'll heal you while I take care of this" Issei told Koneko as he pushed the attack back and faced his opponent.

Koneko nodded and moved over to Asia leaving Issei to stare down the rook that was regaining her senses after having her kick interrupted.

"Who are you?" she spat, clearly being less than impressed from the interruption of her attack.

"My name is Issei, I am the single pawn of Rias Gremory and the red dragon emperor" Issei replied confidently as he manifested the boosted gear upon his arm.

The rook before his shook for a moment before regaining some confidence.

"My name is Xuelan, I am a rook of Riser Phoenix" the girl stated proudly.

Issei smirked at the girl's confidence before moving into a battle stance, before he could launch an attack, Koneko shouted from the sideline.

"Be careful Issei, she's a rook but has the strength of a queen"

Issei was surprised by this because he hadn't deduced any extra power than an ordinary rook from the girl in front of him but he gave Koneko a thumbs up to signal he'd heard the warning.

Xuelan rushed forward with an outstretched fist and coated it in flames for a quick attack which Issei dodged before grabbing her arm and swinging her around like a tornado before smashing her into the wall of the gym.

Meanwhile on the other side of the building, Raynare had taken flight to avoid the twin pawns who were wielding chainsaws, she created a couple of light spears and threw them towards the two who dodged them efficiently and retaliated by using their chainsaws as throwing weapons which surprised Raynare enough to have one of them clip the edge of a wing while she managed to dodge the other.

"We're not as weak as you might think we are, being pawns and all" the twins shot at the fallen angel in unison.

"I can see that, it appears it's time to up my game" Raynare replied cooly.

The fallen began to charge a large light spear that easily dwarfed the size of her body and kept on growing. The twins leapt into actions with their chainsaws and split the spear down the middle. Think they'd subdued the attack, they let their guard down which proved a fatal mistake as the two half of the spear sprang to life and dashed around the backs of the two, piercing them both through the chest, barely missing their hearts since deaths in this game would be a hassle to clean up.

The twins had expressions of shock and anger that they'd been duped so easily, in a last ditch attempt they both infused the magic they had left as they were retiring into their weapons and threw them at blinding speeds towards either sides of Raynare who had no time to dodge so they sliced through her wings rendering them useless for the rest of the match.

Raynare collapsed onto one knee and glared in anger at the twins as they faded in a blue light, she was furious that two pawns had managed to cripple her for the rest of the game when she had already beaten them but gotten too cocky and let down her guard as they had. She stood and looked over to Issei who was still locked in combat with Xuelan.

Issei was shocked, the power he'd sensed from the rook at the start of their engagement was far cry from what she was releasing now. After he'd spun her into the wall she'd become quite angry and started attacked fast and furiously with both arms and legs, however her anger made her sloppy and Issei managed to find a way to block or dodge all her attacks and dish out some damage to her also.

This had obviously been the breaking point for the rook since she'd roared loud enough to hurt Issei's ears before her aura shot up into a fiery explosion that coated her body. The power she was releasing was indeed on par with a queen as Koneko had said and if he was honest, Issei was a little unsure if he could best her.

"I see you friend defeated Ile and Nel, no matter, with her crippled like that, i'll take you both on and win" Xuelan growled angrily, her aura flaring chaotically.

The rook surged towards Issei with such speed that Issei just managed to keep up and Raynare completely lost track of her. Issei managed to block a punch to his face but couldn't stop the seconds punch to his gut.

Issei coughed up a glob of blood wearing a shocked expression before he was flung into a wall. Coughing with hazy vision, Issei looked up to where Xuelan had been moments ago only to find her gone. Suddenly a weak yelp was heard and Issei looked over to see Raynare in a choke hold courtesy of the super charged rook who's flames threatened to engulf the fallen angel.

"Give up now or else i'll cave in her skull and do the same to the blond in the corner" Xuelan spat as she gave Asia a menacing glance.

"You-" Issei started before his voice failed him and he slumped to one knee, unable to move.

"Stupid boy" the now demented rook shouted before raising a flame filled hand to kill Raynare.

Issei was frozen, he couldn't move, he couldn't think straight, his world was crumbling, the person he'd fallen for was about to die and he could do nothing about it.

Xuelan brought down her fist and a deafening scream was heard.

The scream was followed by crying and the sound of short, rapid breaths.

Issei looked up and saw Raynare crying on the floor, alive. Xuelan was lying in a pool of blood, her face distorted and broken. He looked to the side and was meet with a scene that would haunt him to the grave, Asia, with smoking hands was on her knees.

She had killed Xuelan.

It wasn't a matter of retirement at this point, the blast the nun had produced was uncontrolled and deadly since she hadn't trained herself to attack properly with her holy powers. The deceased rook was warped out of the arena in a red light, while Asia's breaths became faster and faster, each more shallow and ragged than the last, her aura rose and rose until it exploded out of control and an agonised scream of despair and betrayal left her lips.

The nun with hollow eyes got to her feet and turned to Issei with a dead stare.

"You lied to me" were the only words she snarled in a venomous tone before lunging at the injured brunette.

Issei was broken, his body beaten and battered to the point where he could barely move, his mind was in turmoil at the sight of the person who used to be a close friend have to kill someone and stain her hands because of his weakness, he'd broken his promise and would now pay for his sin.

 **(ISSEI!)** Ddraig bellowed.

Issei faintly recognised the dragon's call.

"Ddraig?"

 **(What're you doing, don't tell me you've given up again)** the dragon berated his host in a dangerous tone.

"I haven't... but what am I supposed to do, I refuse to fight Asia, she's my friend, even if I wanted to my body is at it's limit" Issei lamented tearfully.

 **(Then you must reach the scared girl that lays dormant under the surface of the facade in front of you)** Ddraig informed Issei.

"But how? I've broken the one promise I made to her, how can I possibly reach someone who's turned their back on me?" Issei asked the dragon with sadness lacing his voice.

 **(You must remind her of the times you have been there for her, make sure she knows that despite your failure here, you still care for her and will do the best you can)** Ddraig replied with a hint of reflection in his tone.

Issei focused, he drew in breath and let it out, then he stood to his full height in front of Asia.

"Asia, I know you're still in there, please forgive me, I know I broke our promise and I know i'm weak and I know I can't begin to atone for the trauma you've been put through because I was too weak but please don't do this, don't become like Xuelan who let power consume her because it led to her death and I don't want you to die, I want you to live as happily as possible, please Asia, give me one more chance and i'll protect you with my life" Issei pleaded with the now hollow Asia.

Before Issei heard an answer, fire hit the roof of the gym and blew out a chuck of it. Through the smoke and flames, one figure entered the gym, Riser Phoenix himself.

"Riser had sensed the immense negative energy coming from this gym and decided to see the cause for himself only to hear that one of Riser's best pieces had been killed rather than retired" Riser stated growing angry at the mention of his deceased pawn.

"Then Riser decided to come and kill the one responsible for the death of his beloved rook only to sense this powerful dark energy erupt and from the timid bishop of Rias no less. Riser thinks that dear Asia here has had a little change of heart and would like to invite her to join Riser to crush the Gremory team, what does she say?" Riser asked Asia with a smug grin.

Asia didn't reply, she didn't hesitate in her decision either and left with Riser through the room of the gym.

Leaving Issei bleeding out on the floor with a large hole where his heart had been moments ago.

 _ **Hey all, bet you're surprised I didn't take another year for the next chapter eh?**_

 _ **Now I know that some of you may not agree with me making Asia join Riser but i've had it planned for a while now and the main reason I think she would is because Issei promised before the game she wouldn't have to kill anyone, since Issei had been caught off guard by the dramatic increase in strength from Xuelan he was beaten to the point where he was unable to move before he could use the boosted gear.**_

 _ **Essentially he got cocky and Asia paid the price by having to attack the rook but because she had only trained defensively, her light powers manifested into her attack and made it deadly for Xuelan. The trauma she faced from coming to terms with killing someone affected her deeply, her sorrow and anger took over and unleashed upon the person who'd given her false hope... Issei.**_

 _ **Now Issei obviously isn't dead, but there will be quite the change in his outlook and how he interacts with the people he called friends, to see how big a change that'll be, you'll have to wait for the next chapter which will see what the rest of the ORC were up to and the climax of the battle as well as the news of Asia's betrayal due to Issei's broken promise.**_

 _ **So stay tuned for all that and more, thank you all for reading and reviewing, you all mean the world to me.**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 ** _BK out :)_**


	11. Transformation

Darkness.

That was all Issei could see, nothing but never ending darkness, no light in sight, nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to touch just... nothing.

Issei heard voices, whether they were real or in his head he didn't know, it didn't matter.

He heard Rias.

"you don't deserve Raynare or anyone for that matter"

"That's not true" choked Issei.

Koneko.

"Pathetic, so strong yet so weak in the end"

"I couldn't help it" Issei sobbed, his eyes filled with tears.

Akeno.

"How disappointing, what a failure"

"Please forgive me, i'm sorry" Issei cried.

Kiba.

"To think I thought of you as my friend"

"We still can be right?" Issei questioned desperately.

Raynare.

"What a weakling, I should've killed you when I saw you with Asia"

"No... Raynare please I tried so hard, I LOVE YOU" Issei screamed.

Then worst of all, Asia...

"You lied to me Issei, you betrayed me, you made me this way, you turned me into a killer"

...

Issei fell silent.

For a while that's all there was, just silence.

He didn't know how long had passed before he heard a voice.

Issei's face remained emotionless as he turned towards a girl who looked around 10 years old, she had grey hair and was wearing a gothic dress that was open down the middle with only a couple of bows bonding the two sides together while her exposed breasts were covered in a black tape over the nipples.

"Who are you?" Issei asked in a monotone voice as he looked into the girl's black and soulless eyes.

"I am infinity, however you may call me Ophis" the girl responded coldly.

"Ophis..." Issei tested the name before continuing "why am I here?" he questioned the girl.

"Because you're dead" Ophis replied.

"Then... why am I here and not in heaven or the underworld?" Issei asked.

"Because you have unfinished business, your soul is refusing to pass on to the afterlife and wishes to return to the mortal realm however it doesn't contain the power to revive itself so you are stuck here in limbo however i've been watching you for a while now and I find your actions amusing so i've decided to charge your soul with a fraction of my power, just enough to allow it to access the mortal realm once more" Ophis told Issei.

"Indeed, i'll send you back now, it's up to you to find what you need to do because this is a one time offer from me" Ophis stated.

Issei nodded in response.

"One last thing, my power may influence your soul somewhat, I do not yet know how unfortunately" Ophis informed the boy.

Issei nodded once more before a blinding light engulfed his vision.

Back in the gym of the alternate Kuoh Academy, Raynare and Koneko were in shock, they had witnessed the 'death' of their friend at the hands of Asia who up until a few minutes ago they had thought of as family.

After she'd blasted Issei through the chest, Asia had left through the roof with Riser without hesitation leaving the two left behind to morn over Issei's body.

However they weren't able to do so for long because a burst of magical energy blinded them and pushed them away from the body of Issei, by the time they looked again he had changed quite a bit from how they'd last seen him.

His clothes had changed to an all black skintight battle suit with a black trench coat over the top that was long sleeved and reached his mid calf, his face now was devoid of much emotion, his lips were shut tightly into a small frown and his eyes seemed darker.

In contrast to his natural brunette colour, his hair was now snow white as a result of the stress induced by the hallucinations of his so called friends berating him for his failure to protect Asia. It had also grown longer, covering his ears and almost reaching his chin.

However the biggest change were his wings, once they were half angel and half devil but now the angel half had transformed in devil wings, the power that Ophis had given Issei to return had neutralised his angel blood, turning him into a full blooded devil imbued with her magic.

Raynare and Koneko looked upon the new Issei and were frozen in shock at how he'd transformed into someone so different.

"Issei?" Raynare called out with a little uncertainty.

Issei turned to the fallen angel and scowled, remembering how she had wished she'd killed him when they met.

"What?" he answered in a lower, gruffer voice than he used to have.

"Are you... okay?" Raynare asked hesitantly after she heard the voice she'd come to love disappear and be replaced by this new one.

Issei looked at Raynare but said nothing before turning and walking towards the exit to the gym, he knew what business he had to finish.

Outside the gym looked looked like a crater, there had definitely been a battle here, but who had taken part?

That question was soon answered when an injured Kiba hobbled over to Issei, meanwhile Raynare and Koneko had followed.

"Issei!?" Kiba asked with awe as he took in the boy's new appearance.

"Yes" Issei shortly replied.

"What happened to you Kiba?" Raynare asked looking over the boy's beaten and bloody form.

"Me and Akeno encountered more of Riser's forces than we thought, in the end we fought as best we could but they overpowered us. Akeno released a massive thunder attack as a last ditch effort that took out the majority of the enemies but her as well, I managed to retreat and find you before the ones that survived found me" Kiba explained.

"You don't look to good either Raynare, we should get Asia to heal you" Kiba stated.

Raynare and Koneko looked to each other with worry and fear at how the blond would react to Asia's betrayal, however they didn't have time to think further before Issei cut into the conversation in a gruff voice.

"Asia joined Riser" Issei almost growled as he started to walk towards the new school building to confront the bastard that had taken advantage of Asia's fragile mental state.

"WHAT!? Why would she do such a thing?" Kiba yelled in surprise.

"Because she was forced to attack a rook of Riser's while I was incapacitated because I was cocky, she ended up using too much power and killed the rook which caused her to go insane and she joined Riser when he came to the gym" Issei explained quickly, never halting his movement which forced the other three to follow him.

"So she had to attack because you and Raynare became cocky and got injured?" Kiba asked, his tone laced with anger at the carelessness of the two that had cost them one of the most important people on the team.

"Yes" Issei replied shortly.

Kiba pulled back his fist and launched a punch at the back of Issei's head that would have connected had it not been for the intervention of power that had been granted to him by Ophis. A purple shield made of magic radiated around Issei, covering him like an aura.

Issei swiftly turned and decked Kiba in the face with the new power that cause the blond to fall on his ass and retire in blue light due to the already heavy injuries he had sustained earlier. Following this, Issei turned back towards his destination without hesitation and was about to continue his march before his arm was roughly grabbed from behind.

Issei turned once more and was greeted by the shocked and angry faces of Raynare and Koneko who couldn't believe Issei had just taken out one of their own team so coldly.

"Issei what the hell!?" Koneko shouted at the boy.

"He was your friend, how could you just retire him like that!?" Raynare followed.

"He started it" Issei replied monotonously.

Before the two could further their lecture with Issei, a massive explosion rocked the area and two sets of blue lights appeared to take Raynare and Koneko away.

Issei growled at the loss and looked up to see Riser's queen Yubelluna floating in the sky with a smug grin on her face.

"It appears those two bitches were too distracted lecturing you, I saw how you took out that swordsman by the way, it was quite arousing to watch" Yubelluna stated, gaining a lustful expression and rubbing her legs at the last part.

Issei stared blankly at the queen during her statement, he felt nothing, no attraction to the display she was creating, no anger for her taking his friends out, no regret for retiring Kiba himself, just nothing.

"What's the matter? frozen in fear from my beautiful looks and amazing power?" Yubelluna taunted Issei.

"No, I don't feel anything... just like you're about to" Issei stated coldly.

Yubelluna gasped in response to the speed Issei lunged at her with and used her power to set off and explosion around her that would repel him only to find out that it had no effect.

Issei, covered in the purple aura from earlier, performed a powerful axe kick to Yubelluna's skull which sent her flying to the ground.

Before she had a chance to even process what had just happened, Issei charged a purple sphere of magic that crackled like a ball of electricity and hurled it at the queen who screamed in pain as it froze her in place. Trapped in the sphere, Yubelluna cried in pain as the sphere constantly damaged her, tears rolled down the queen's face as she felt the most pain she ever had in her life.

Issei walked away towards Riser's base once more and left Yubelluna in the sphere of torture.

"That's for Asia" he growled.

Meanwhile, Rias had grown even more stressed than she was when Issei had left with Asia at the beginning of the match, the current standing was Riser had his queen remaining as well as himself while all but herself, Issei and Asia had been eliminated.

Rias rose to her feet and exited the ORC clubroom thinking it was time she faced off with Riser and regrouped with Issei and Asia. On her flight to the new school building she heard the announcement that Riser's queen had retired which made her feel a little better since now they were only dealing with Riser himself now.

However this new found security was shattered when she looked upon the roof of the new school building and saw a very different looking Issei, alone, standing off against Riser and... Asia? Rias landed next to Issei and wasted no time with her questions.

"Issei what the hell happened, why is your hair white? What's with those clothes and why the hell is Asia standing with Riser.

"The first two don't matter, as for the last one, Asia is on Riser's team now" Issei explained, rather annoyed he had to repeat himself from earlier.

"WHAT!?" why has Asia switched sides? What did you do? She was one of the most important people on our team" Rias shouted accusingly at Issei.

Seeing Asia with that smug ass Riser was bad enough but Rias attacking him and reminding him that it was his fault Asia was forced to kill and switch sides pissed Issei off badly.

 **(Rias Gremory)** Ddraig called from the boosted gear that had manifested onto Issei's arm.

"Y-yes?" Rias replied, rather shocked at the sudden appearance Ddraig had made.

 **(If you do not wish to die then I suggest you stay back)** the dragon warned Rias.

"Why is that?" Rias asked in a curious and slightly demanding tone.

 **(Because my host has gone under a significant transformation and most of the power he gained from it lay dormant until a few moments ago when you berated him, now the power is spilling out and if it isn't used it will explode outwards and kill everyone here)** Ddraig explained.

"O-okay" Rias stuttered, overwhelmed by the news and sight of Issei's transformation, she began to feel rather guilty for how she'd treated him since he'd rejected her advances the previous night, she hadn't given any thought to how it hurt Issei when he had to shut her down and then she called the person he loved a slut and took it out on him at the start of the game which caused him to storm off with Asia to the gym where all this happened.

Rias was snapped out of her thoughts by Ddraig's voice.

 **(WELSH DRAGON, BALANCE BREAKER)** the dragon roared as Issei became sealed in his crimson armor, however it looked different, the colour was a very dark shade of crimson almost to the point of it being another colour entirely and the once green gems had turned to a snow white colour that matched Issei's hair.

"Hahaha, you may have a new colour scheme but that won't stop the great Riser, i've taken Asia from you and once you're dead i'll take Rias as well, them my harem will be even larger and i'll force Rias and Asia to do anything and everything with me" Riser gloated with a smug grin on his face.

"Shut the fuck up you stupid bird brain, i've had enough of you and your sickly attitude, I'M GOING TO WIPE YOU OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH" Issei yelled as he began charging a purple magic ball that was being amplified by his armor, the ball grew in size until Issei held it over his head with one hand and the size of it dwarfed the whole building.

Riser widened his eyes as the end of his life flashed before his eyes.

"Foolish child, do you know that if you strike me with that you'll kill me and Asia, you'll be wanted by my family and the whole underworld, THIS MARRIAGE IS FOR THE GOOD OF DEVIL KIND, YOU WILL BE CLASSED A TRAITOR TO ALL DEVILS" Riser shouted, screaming at the top of his lungs by the end as Issei didn't show any signs of stopping at the mention of Asia being killed or being a wanted criminal.

Issei dashed up to Riser and grabbed his shirt before uttering three words in a powerful voice.

"I don't care"

 **(ANNIHILATION BLAST)**

With that the field filled with smoke and the announcement of Rias Gremory's victory was given.

 _ **Hey :)**_

 _ **Okay so not as fast as i'd hoped I could update this story of mine but at least it wasn't as long as the times before right? 0w0**_

 _ **I think you all have realised by now that I have quite the thing for cliffhangers, this one was very much intentional though since I wanted the climax to be the last attack of the game, however the actual ending with Riser, Asia and Issei all being engulfed while Rias stayed back due to Ddraig's advice which made her the person to see the result of the final attack was a nice idea that fit itself into played once I started writing the final conflict on the roof.**_

 ** _While I won't spoil the outcome of the match, it will propel the universe in a different direction that cannon somewhat considering the all the main arcs will still take place but in an alternate way._**

 ** _As for Issei's attitude, i'm trying to write him as emotionless for now with the occasional outburst of anger, that may change in the future but for now Ophis' power has robbed him of his positive emotions, including his love._**

 _ **Anyway, enough of me rambling on, thank you all for reading this, any constructive reviews would be greatly appreciated, even if you just wanna say hi :)**_

 _ **until next time,**_

 _ **BK out :)**_


	12. Aftermath

The faint beeping of a heart monitor could be heard in the room as Issei opened his eyes. His vision was blurred and the room was quite bright, however after a few moments his vision returned and he noticed that he was inside a white room on what seemed to be a hospital bed.

Issei attempted to move to get up but found that he was shackled to the bed by ankle, wrist and a torso restraint, allowing only his head to move freely.

This did not set well with him, being contained like this was making Issei feel very uncomfortable, while he didn't show it visually, inside his mind was screaming to get out.

Before he could begin to think of a plan to escape, the door to the room opened and a tall man with crimson hair wearing a black suit walked in.

"Ah, I see you're awake Issei, my name is Sirzechs" he spoke in a gentle tone.

Issei remained silent, sizing the man up and deducing that he possessed great power, far superior to Riser's and his own.

"Not much of a talker? That wasn't always the case now was it?" Sirzechs probed.

Again Issei remained silent.

Sirzechs grew a little more frustrated at the fact that the boy had changed so much so quickly from the stories he'd been told by his dear sister Rias. The old Issei was someone that he preferred since he was kind and cared for his friends, this new Issei had already retired one of his own team mates and suicide attacked Riser while Asia was in the vicinity, granted she had been on Riser's side at the time but still.

"What happened to you, where has the old Issei who cared for his friends gone?" asked Sirzechs.

Issei remained quiet for a moment before giving his answer.

"That Issei is gone, you can thank Ophis the infinite dragon god for that" Issei answered.

"W-WHAT!? what does Ophis have to do with your change?" Sirzechs demanded, initially surprised at the mention of the leader of the Khaos Brigade but quickly growing curious as to how Ophis had change the boy in front of him so much.

"I was dying, Asia had gone berserk as i'm sure you know and she blasted through my heart before she left with Riser. I woke up in a black void where I was tormented by visions of the people I called friends telling me I wasn't good enough, eventually something just snapped... that is when I met Ophis. She said my soul had unfinished business and gave me some of her power so I could return, however her power influenced my soul and that caused the changes you see now as well as robbing me of most of my emotions apart from rage" Issei explained with a neutral expression.

Sirzechs couldn't help feel bad for the boy after hearing his story, but the fact remained that he had killed a high ranking devil and critically injured Kiba and Asia who were barely breathing by the time they could receive medical attention. The old Issei was gone but maybe not forever as hearing that the reason Issei changed was because of Ophis' power sparked an idea that if they could find a way to remove the amount of power Ophis had given, the old Issei may yet be able to return.

However it would take months maybe even years for the magic Ophis used to be identified since they would need to know what they were removing and what the best approach would be. Fortunately time wasn't a issue since devils lived much longer than humans but they would have to place special precautions around Issei until his former self returned as his new form came with many unknowns.

"Issei... If we managed to remove Ophis' power, then theoretically we could revert you back to how you were before, I believe-" Sirzechs stated before he was interrupted by Issei.

"I refuse" Issei stated simply.

This shocked Sirzechs as he thought Issei would be happy to return to his former self, it was also unfortunate because if Issei wouldn't go through with this idea and remained how he was, the underworld would not be happy with him and he would have to be incarcerated.

"Why?" Sirzechs asked firmly, making it clear he wasn't happy with the boy's decision.

"Because I now see the truth, devils are not good, they simply were cowards in the great war and decided to withdraw before losing anymore high ranking devils, devils are just are as devious and despicable as angels. The so called traitors that you and the angels have outcasted in the form of fallen angels are the most moral out of all of you, how ironic... With the power Ophis has given me I will purge this world of angel and devils as they have been nothing but a nuisance for other religions by fighting each other" Issei declared with a serious look.

"Oh really? Surely you must know that power isn't enough to beat even an ultimate class devil, let alone one of the four maou such as me" Sirzechs boasted, now not caring about befriending and returning Issei to how he was since he'd made his stance in the supernatural very clear.

"Maybe not, but I have ways of becoming stronger" Issei replied simply.

Knowing that the conversation was going nowhere and Issei was set on his decision to oppose devils, Sirzechs decided to end the talking and ordered the guards outside Issei's room to escort him to the dungeon cell that had been prepared for just such an occasion as this.

The guards came into the room and affixed wrist and ankles cuffs to Issei before removing the bed restraints and leading him out the door.

Issei was lead down a grey, empty corridor, down a set of step that looked like they'd seen better days and through a large double wooden door into a large circular room, lit only by chandeliers and candles. Multiple cells with a bed, toilet and sink lined the edges of the rooms.

The guards opened a cell and tossed Issei inside before closing the door and flipping a switch which caused Issei to immediately collapse onto one knee.

"Excellent, the special power dampeners work on even a dragon god's power" one guard remarked before they both turned and left the room.

Issei struggled to his bed and collapsed onto it. With the power that Ophis had given him sealed away, his soul was beginning to deteriorate, if he didn't get out of here soon then he'd return to that void.

He searched frantically around the cell for anything that could help, the bed, the sink, the toilet, he even tried to pull the bars apart but in the end all that's he'd done was used up precious energy. Issei flopped onto the bed, unable to move, his thoughts a blurr, he made one last desperate move.

"Ddraig..." Issei called out weakly.

 **(Partner!)** came the dragon's exasperated reply **(I've been trying to reach you since the end of your battle, what happened?)** Ddraig asked.

"W.. we ended up being scooped out of the arena by Sirzechs, he told me that our attack killed Riser and injured Asia and Kiba" Issei muttered as clear as he could.

 **(I see, it's regrettable that the attack hurt Asia but unavoidable since she wasn't moving from Riser's side, however I do think you were out of line when you punched Kiba)** The dragon replied, scolding Issei for his rash action.

Issei thought back to attacking the knight for a brief moment, his judgment blurred slightly but eventually remained firm, he'd been justified.

Ddraig sensed this and sighed, he regretted not being able to help with Asia more, as a result of that, Issei had been changed and now refused to go back. However, while he missed the old Issei, Ddraig was forever loyal to his host and would assist him until death.

 **(I can sense your vitals are dropping, without the power Ophis gave you to save your soul your body will shut down)** The dragon regretfully informed Issei.

"That's why I called you... I want you to turn me into a dragon" Issei weakly stated.

 **(Are you sure partner, once you do this there's no going back)** Ddraig warned the boy.

"I'm about to die Ddraig, there's no other options for me. Besides, I need to get out of here to see Raynare and try to help Asia" Issei replied.

 **(I'm surprised, I thought you lost your emotions when you changed, however it appears you still hold a place for those two in your heart)** Ddraig pondered aloud.

"Don't hold your breath, I only want to right my wrongs with Asia so she can be happy again, Raynare I only want to say goodbye to" Issei replied blankly.

Ddraig knew there was more to this than Issei was letting on but decided that Issei needed time to choose what he'd do, so he accepted the dying Issei's request.

 **(This is going to hurt partner)** Ddraig warned his host.

"I'm sure I can take i-" Issei started calmly before the process began and he screamed his lungs off before collapsing unconscious.

A few hours later, Issei awoke with a headache and burning muscles.

"Ddraig?" Issei called out.

 **(Ah you're awake, the transformation went smoothly, your vitals are stable and your current status is half dragon, half devil)**

"That's good news, i suppose the next plan should be getting out of this dungeon, and back to the human world, that way I can seclude myself in my apartment until I can come up with a concrete plan of the future" Issei told Ddraig in a calculative voice.

 **(I agree, however it appears that escaping this place will be quite difficult due to the power dampener around the dungeon, all your abilities have been cut off, even the boosted gear, the only way we can communicate is through a telepathic link)** Ddraig informed his partner.

"There's also the problem that Rias' pawn pieces are still inside of me, can I remove them and be a full dragon?" Issei asked Ddraig.

 **(Unfortunately i'm afraid not, I do not possess enough energy to fully transform you into a dragon, maybe once we get out of here and Ophis' power returns you might stand a chance but I would advise against it)** Ddraig warned Issei.

"But Rias can use these pieces to track me, once we break out they'll be right on our trail, we won't stand a chance!" Issei exclaimed as her punched the stone wall which cracked at his fury, he was frustrated at the lack of options.

 **(There is currently no way to remove your pieces, however there is someone who may be able to provide the power I lack after this transformation)** Ddraig informed his host.

Usually the proud welsh dragon wouldn't dream of asking for this person's help but Issei was becoming restless and would inevitably make a reckless move that would cost him dearly while those pieces would be used to track him, besides, this would give them more time to plan.

"Who?" Issei briskly asked.

 **(My rival, the vanishing dragon)** Ddraig shortly replied.

Issei's eyes widened for a moment as he remembered the story of the two heavenly rival dragons, if Ddraig was willing to go to his rival and sacrifice his pride to help him...

This realisation lit a fire in Issei's cold heart that began to melt to ice that has encased it. If his partner would go this far for him, then Issei was going to make sure that he didn't waste the dragon's sacrifice. With a swift motion, Issei drew the sword that he hadn't for some time, his angelic weapon.

"Rrrgh" Issei grunted as the holy energy of the weapon poisoned his devil nature, thankfully his dragon nature was nullifying the damage somewhat but it was still fatal if held for too long, however he didn't need much time.

 **(PARTNER, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU-)** Ddraig began to yell before being cut off by Issei.

"Ddraig I can't hold this for long, I need you boost this sword, it's immune to the effects of the power dampeners because devils never found a way to properly seal the holy power from angels, theoretically that means you should be able to boost the sword itself" Issei responded, struggling to keep his grip on the sword.

Ddraig saw the grit and determination in Issei's eyes and smiled, he knew the old Issei was still in there.

 **(BOOST X10)** Ddraig announced.

"WE NEED MORE!" Issei yelled.

 **(BOOST X20)** Ddraig shouted.

"KEEP GOING!" Issei bellowed.

 **(BOOST X50)** Ddraig roared.

"RRRRRGGGHHHHHHH" Issei screamed as he lifted the sword and sliced downwards, blasting open the wall sending rubble and debris flying past which smashed down the cell door and blocked up the main entrance to the dungeon.

It was storming violently outside, lightning streaked across the sky and the rain hammered through the hole into Issei. There was no land in sight and it was a long drop straight down into the ocean, it wasn't long before the explosion of power that had broken the wall was noticed.

"What the hell is going on in there!?" shouted a familiar voice.

Issei recognised the voice, it belonged to Sirzechs, he was one of the four maou of the underworld, that rubble wasn't going to hold him for long. However the aftermath of holding the boosted holy sword for so long had left Issei with deep wounds in the palms of both his hands which effectively stopped him from using them.

At that moment red power of destruction broke through the rubble and Sirzechs appeared in golden armor.

"Issei Hyoudou, stand down or I will be forced to eliminate you and I really don't want to do that" Sirzechs told the boy which surprised Issei a little.

"Why the hell do you care if I die?" Issei angrily shot back.

"Because my sister and her peerage care about you, they're all worried about you after you changed in the rating game, even Kiba doesn't hold any grudge against you. I'm sorry about how I came across in your recovery room but I was being watched closely by the Phoenix family who were scorned by their son's death and pressured me into acting cold and locking you up or else they'd cause an outrage" Sirzechs informed Issei.

Issei processed this information for a moment, never leaving the edge of the hole, the rain still whipping at him. He could understand that Sirzechs had been forced into locking him up and acting how he did and it was heart warming to hear that almost of the peerage blamed him for what happened, however one member did, Asia's betrayal was his fault and after he'd killed Riser and injured her at the end of the game because he let his anger consume him... Issei couldn't bring himself to go back, not yet.

"I'm sorry... I can't" Issei regretfully told Sirzechs with a tear in his left eye.

"Issei, don't do this" Sirzechs pleaded the boy

Holding the sword and excessively boosting had drained his stamina but Issei had made up his mind, he backed up to the edge of the hole in the wall.

"Please tell Raynare that i'm sorry and that I love her" Issei calmly stated before allowing himself to fall backwards, the wind whipped his body and the rain soaked his clothes, he heard one voice in his mind, the one who had saved him all those years ago.

"Not yet"

With that, Issei plunged into the storming water.

 _ **And that's a wrap.**_

 _ **Hello again everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I know I bloody didn't.**_

 _ **Midway through writing this I honestly considered just stopping the whole thing since i'd had the plot planned out but a few decisions I made in earlier chapters cut that vision off from being a possibility and I felt as though i'd written myself into a corner.**_

 _ **However this was when my very own angel gave me the inspiration I so desperately needed and allowed me to find a way to get the story back on track to what I envisioned, so it may be a bumpy ride but were all gonna get to the station in one piece.**_

 _ **I'd like to give a special thank you to a user by the name of Tohka Yatogami for being my angel and allowing this little train ride to get back on track, I owe you one ;)**_

 _ **As always, thank you everyone who reads, reviews and follows me and this fic, until next time,**_

 _ **BK out :)**_


	13. Past

_**BOO**_

 _ **Did I scare you? No? Haha i'm not surprised, my update schedule is scarier than me.**_

 _ **Very sorry that I kept you guys hanging for so long but my life has changed up quite a bit in the last few months and I now have a few more things on my plate to deal with.**_ _ **I won't go into them here but just be aware that I will still be updating this story when I can, I ain't gonna leave you guys all alone ;)**_

 _ **Any reviews, follows and favourites would be greatly appreciated and as always feel free to shoot me a pm if you wanna talk about the story or even just anything else, I promise I won't bite ;)**_

 _ **With that said, please enjoy the chapter! :)**_

The news was hard to take for the ORC.

While Issei had been powerful before, at the time of his fall he was dampened and weak from using his holy sword so the group knew that his chance of survival was bleak at best.

Sirzechs had dreaded telling Rias and the others of Issei's supposed demise, while he did have some suspicions that Issei could have lived, he didn't want to get the ORC team's hopes up.

Koneko took the news hard since ever since she'd been saved by Issei he'd been someone she could talk to, however she hadn't a clue on how she felt about him now since she had been unconscious when Issei had undergone his transformation and committed the deeds he did.

Kiba clenched his fist and set his raging gaze towards the outside world through the window he was sitting by, he had failed to protect his comrade and had even lost control of his emotions and attacked him when he was clearly vulnerable, truely he had sullied his knight's honor and reputation.

Akeno felt conflicted as Issei had been the one closest to understanding her plight with her split heritage, however she hadn't seen him during the game and as such only heard about his deeds to which she thought of him as reckless and cruel... but maybe there was something she was missing?

Rias was also conflicted but much more than Akeno since she had bore witness to the look in Issei's eyes before he'd unleashed his 'annihilation blast', they were filled with burning hate, it appears that Issei truely had changed by the time she'd arrived on that roof and her words to him had been spark that ignited the power within him to overflow with his hatred and betrayal.

Raynare was by far the person who'd taken the news the worst, who could blame her? The love of her life had just been announced all but dead and her last words to him were ones of anger and accusation. The moment Sirzechs had told her Issei's last words before he'd fell Raynare had broken down crying, unable to process the fact that the person she'd loved and hurt still cared before his supposed demise.

Once the news had been delivered, Sirzechs excused himself to deal with important matters concerning the relationship between the Gremory and Phoenix house due to the events of the rating game. This left the ORC in the clubroom speechless as none of them had anything they wanted to or could even voice currently. Slowly each member left eventually leaving only Rias in the clubroom sat at her deck, staring out the window and wondering how this had all gone so wrong.

Light.

Just blinding light, that was all he could see.

Issei slowly regained his vision as his eyes adjusted to the immense amount of light around him. He quickly recognised the softness of the bed he was lying on and the decour of the room around him.

His neutral face turned into a frown as he was in the one place he hated most... Heaven.

Issei rose from the bed and dressed himself in his clothes that had been dried and repaired from the water damage following his fall. He didn't know what to do since the last time he'd been here was just before he'd been cast out of Heaven for bad behaviour, this had been close to a year after Ddraig had cut connection with him and about a month before he ended up saving Koneko.

The double doors leading into his room effectively halted Issei's recollection of the past and brought his attention back to the present and onto the figure that had stepped into the room.

Issei looked over the figure and after some thought recognised the white robes that had been altered to allow combat and bright blue eyes that you could get lost within, standing in front of him was Griselda Quarta, queen of Gabriel.

Said woman stared at Issei with narrow eyes filled with suspicion and curiosity, but also a trace amount of concern for the boy. His new appearance and clothing was something that she didn't know what to think of, yet it was the only thing she had to judge him on since she hadn't seen or heard from him since he'd been cast out of Heaven by Michael.

"Hello Issei" Griselda greeted in a neutral tone.

"Hello" Issei replied in a blank tone, crossing his arms shortly after.

"How've you been?" she asked.

"I've been better but also worse" he responded stiffly.

"I see" stated the former exorcist.

The silence between them was awkward and the tension thick. Both were unsure as to how to begin a proper conversation since it had been so long and they had become very different people.

Eventually though Issei had run out of patience.

"Why was I brought here" he asked slightly annoyed at the lack of answers so far.

Griselda flinched slightly as the boy's sharp tone, she could tell just by looking at his demeanor that something major had changed within him, was this really the same boy that she'd seen in Heaven?

 _ **Flashback**_

A few weeks after Issei had been brought to Heaven, Gabriel instructed Griselda to train the boy so that Heaven may benefit from the Red Dragon Emperor in battle. However shortly after Griselda began training Issei she noticed a distinct lack of effort from the boy as well as a substantial decrease in power.

Issei panted after another of Griselda's brutal assaults, cuts and bruises adorned his body, something the former exorcist was surprised yet angered with.

"If you're this injured then it proves you're not using the power of the red dragon of domination, the whole reason you were reincarnated was to provide Heaven with a trump card against the other factions. If this is all you have then Gabriel made a grave mistake" Griselda spat with disappointment.

Issei snarled at her harsh words, his anger rising more and more by the second, but he held it in because he knew that her words were true. Ddraig had sealed himself off from Issei making him unable to use the boosted gear at all and his body was weak for a normal human.

Issei used his anger and charged the woman with a furious roar, this only stunned Griselda for a moment though as she simply made a wall of light in front of her that repelled Issei's assault and threw him across the room.

But the boy wasn't done, his rage was spilling out in waves and he charged again and again, being thrown back and bloodied by the wall each time. Nine attempts later and Issei was on the floor, his hand reached out to pull himself along the floor towards the former exorcist bit by bit.

Griselda was staring at the boy with pity, but also a small amount of respect at the iron will of the boy, not to mention his powerful rage. At the thought of rage she remembered that the red dragon of domination's power was brought out with intense emotions and in his current state, his rage may be able to awaken his true power.

"Come on boy, is that all you have, if so then it's no wonder that you were killed so easily, your sister was sacrificed so you could have a second chance and fight for us, but you're so weak that you can't even do that, you disgust me spitting on your sister's life like that" Griselda spat in a harsh tone.

A fire lit in Issei's eyes upon hearing these words. This woman had the audacity, the nerve to imply that by not fighting for the people who basically tricked his sister into suicide just to get him on their side was spitting on her so called sacrifice!?

Issei reared up his form and opened his mouth to roar his retort, however nothing came out, he realised moments later that the reason he'd remained silent was because they were right, no matter how morally ambiguous Gabriel's methods were, if he continued like this, the life his sister gave up to give him another chance would be wasted.

Right then and there Issei swore to live. Not for himself, he was selfish and ignorant, he didn't deserve the life his sister had given him. He decided he would live her life instead, the way she never got the chance to, experience the foods, people and culture she never could, he would live for her, until the day he died.

Issei took a deep breath and turned his back on Griselda who stood stunned by Issei's calmness after her verbal assault. Issei kept walking despite a few pathetic protests from Griselda to get back to training and didn't look back.

 _ **Flashback end**_

"Hello? HEY!" Issei shouted at Griselda impatiently, the woman in question quickly snapped back to reality and looked at the boy with confused eyes.

"What happened to you Issei, before you were angry sure, but you were usually patient and respectful now you're completely different" Griselda asked Issei in a compassionate tone, she was worried about Issei's change, yes he'd been kicked out of Heaven but she still cared about her former student. To see the boy changed this much for the worse, she had to know what happened.

Issei crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. His posture screamed that he was currently deciding whether he should tell her or not. Eventually his face softened and he dropped his arms to his sides with a sigh before starting to explain everything, Asia's freakout because of his weakness and broken promise, her betrayal and subsequent killing of himself, Ophis granting him some of her power to return but at the cost of most of his emotions and finally the end of the game leading up to his escape and fall from the prison cell he'd been housed in.

By the end of his story Griselda had a tear in her eye threatening to fall, to think that the person she'd trained and developed a bond with before he was unfortunately ejected from Heaven had to suffer through death and the cold shoulder of the devil faction that has supposedly taken him in as one of their own, it was hurtful to hear.

The former exorcist slowly walked over to Issei and placed a hand on his shoulder. Issei allowed this for a moment but quickly shook it off before returning to the matter at hand.

"I'll ask again, why am I here Griselda?" Issei asked, this time a little calmer.

The woman paused for a moment before giving Issei the news.

"Gabriel wanted to apologize" she stated simply.

Issei's jaw almost fell through the floor, the woman that had gone against the rules of Heaven to reincarnate him as her warrior for the boosted gear, the woman who had stood by her decision and given Issei nothing but the necessary information of his day, had she finally changed? He quickly regained his composure and asked Griselda another question.

"Where is she?"

Griselda frowned before answering.

"Gabriel... she's currently in Heaven's ICU for treatment for injuries sustained in a battle against the white dragon empress, that woman is even more of a battle maniac than she used to be, her power has become so strong that it might be on par with ultimate, maybe even maou class devils" Griselda responded as her voice shifted from a sad tone to a fearful one.

Issei was conflicted, the woman who essentially killed his sister and brought him into her slavery wanted to apologize after all these years but before she could do so the white dragon empress came to Heaven and seriously wounded her, a great seraph. Truly Griselda's assessment of the battle maniac was nothing to be scoffed at. Issei wanted to forgive Gabriel and put this mess behind them but the things she'd done still lingered in his mind, he wanted to congratulate the white dragon empress for hurting the woman who hurt him but also punch her for ruining his chance of reconciliation, no matter how small it may have been.

Giving a long sigh from the mental battle he'd just fought, Issei asked Griselda to take him to see Gabriel, to which she obliged and lead him out of the double door of his room into a gold and white corridor. They walked along for around 5 minutes before reaching a room with a transportation circle in the center.

"This is how we travel between Heavens" Griselda clarified to a confused Issei as he'd never needed to use one of the circles before because Gabriel possessed the power to take him herself to another level of Heaven when required.

"Seems impractical to have such a small circle when there are so many angels" Issei logically stated.

"This isn't the only circle we have you dummy" Griselda playfully replied trying to cut some of the tension between them.

Issei gave a quick look towards Griselda and raised his bow, she wasn't know for making jokes and he didn't think he could remember her telling one in all his time in Heaven, however he had to admit that Griselda cracking jokes was an amusing sight.

The duo stepped on the circle after Griselda chanted the activation spell and were transported to the level of Heaven where Gabriel was being treated.

Issei walked behind Griselda as she lead the way through many hallways filled with beds and medical equipment. Rooms were on both sides of the corridors with angels inside being treated for their conditions.

She stopped in front of a set of double doors and gave Issei a solemn look, he assumed this meant Gabriel was in this room. They entered the room, it was white and gold in colour like the rest of the place but there were several personal items that obviously belonged to the injured seraph, such as a painting of a lovely sunset, special rings crafted for her by Michael and last but the most surprising to Issei was a photograph in a frame beside her bed that showed him, Gabriel and Griselda all smiling next to each other.

Issei remembered the day that was taken.

 _ **Flashback**_

It had been a few weeks since the training session when Issei had sworn his personal oath. Gabriel called the boy up to the meeting room on the 1st level of Heaven where he was met by her and Griselda who still refused to make eye contact with him after the training session weeks ago, her pride had been hurt by Issei ignoring her and walking out but she was upset because she felt awful about the vile words she spewed out at him in an effort to bring out the red dragon of domination.

Gabriel began talking to them both about an upcoming mission that involved peace talks with the devils in the human realm, the location of the meeting was Florida in the USA. They would travel down to Florida using a teleportation circle and appear inside a special safe house protected by guards and supernatural personnel.

After delivering that, Gabriel dismissed Issei and Griselda back to their rooms to prepare for the mission which would start a couple of hours later. Issei was first out the room eager to get away from Gabriel, something about her eyes when she looked at him made him very uncomfortable, it was like she pitied him but also was frustrated with him, he shook this train of thought off soon after and continued down the hall to his room until a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

Issei turned on the spot and saw Griselda making eye contact with him for the first time in weeks. She had an expression that was filled with many emotions, the most prominent being regret, confusion and frustration, it also looked like she'd been crying a fair bit because her eyes were red and puffy.

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Issei's expression softened, he took her hand and lead here down the corridor and into his room so they could talk in private.

"Issei I- I wanted to apologize for what I said a few weeks back, it wasn't right of me to try and antagonize you to lure out your dragon, if you're not using him then you must have a good reason" Griselda poured out to Issei.

"Thank you for apologizing, it's been a little hard to adjust to this place and being her servant, especially considering the circumstances that brought it about, however i've realized that there's no use rebelling, i'm stuck in this situation and as much as I hate Gabriel for what she did, I have to accept that she is my master and I am her servant, there's nothing more to it" Issei replied with honesty that was laced with veiled anger.

"Issei..." was all Griselda could reply with before falling silent.

Issei opened the door and directed Griselda outside, She obliged with his silent request and left Issei alone in his room. As soon as Issei saw her turn the corner he shut the door.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he screamed, tossing a lamp across the room where it shattered into multiple pieces against the wall.

Issei slumped against the wall down to the floor where he sat hunched over, head in his hands silently sobbing.

Two hours later, Issei, Gabriel and Griselda were all gathered at the teleportation circle ready to head down to Florida and get setup in their safe house for the peace talk, Issei had asked why Michael wasn't coming too since he was the elected leader of Heaven following the biblical god's death but Gabriel said that it was too risky for him to go because the devils could be planning an attack. Great assumptions to try and build peace on Issei thought.

However Michael's assumptions were proved correct when the trio warped down into the middle of a battlefield, the forces on the side of Heaven were attempting to guard the safe house against devil forces lead by a cloaked figure.

Issei didn't know what to think, he was about to take a step forward when Gabriel stopped him.

"Issei, I want you to stay back here and protect our forces if they breach the safe house, DO NOT go outside" she told him as she handed him a spare holy sword.

Issei gritted his teeth at her babying him and telling him what to do but he quickly calmed himself realizing that without Ddraig he had no way to fight and he wasn't exactly a good hand to hand combatant. He took the sword from Gabriel and moved to the center of the building where a large group of Heaven's injured soldiers were.

Meanwhile, Gabriel and Griselda flew out of the building and attacked the enemy forces head on, Gabriel flew at speeds faster than even Griselda could keep up with, slashing devils left and right with rings of light that she threw with deadly precision. Griselda preferred a more hands on method of attack, her customized broadsword which was blue and gold in colour weighed half her body weight and each time she swung she did it without a hint of exhaustion, decimating each and every devil she hit.

Eventually the devils began to retreat as their numbers dwindled, the two angels relaxed for a moment but it was a moment too long as before either of them could react, the safe house was bombed, the explosion was massive, smoke filled the air and the sound of roaring flames was unmistakable. The two angels looked at each other through squinted eyes and both coughed out the same thing.

"Issei!"

They rushed in the direction of the safe house, worried what fate may have befallen the boy. Gabriel used a spell to clear the smoke from the air so that the ruins of the safe house were visible for all to see. However so was the huge blue shield that wrapped around not only Issei but all the injured soldiers as well.

Gabriel gasped, an action that did not go unnoticed by Griselda.

"What is that? How is Issei and the rest of them alive?" she asked feverishly.

"That is a technique i've not seen an angel perform in many centuries, it's called Divine Protector, the ability allows an angel to draw the pure essence of the holy energy in a holy sword and use it as a barrier or shield to protect other. The size depends on the user's affinity towards holy energy, judging by how large the shield was to protect all those people, I daresay that Issei may have the most potential in the technique that has been shown in the last millennia" Gabriel muttered to her, astounded at her servants performance.

Griselda widened her eyes in shock, a whole millennia, was Issei really that special? She looked at Gabriel's look of satisfaction and developed a worrying thought, what if Gabriel tried to use this technique and force Issei to participate in battle against his will, she wanted to protect him because she knew no one else would but Griselda was still unsure of her feelings towards the boy, was it really worth everything she'd worked for?

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Issei grunted in pain. He had taken the full force of the bomb before he'd managed to put up the shield and save the others and because of that his energy was depleted and his body was covered in cuts and bruises, his face was dirty from the smoke but he was alive. He released the shield and slumped to the floor exhausted from the effort.

Griselda ran over to Issei to make sure he was alright. Once she'd made sure all the damage he'd taken was non lethal, she picked him up and hoisted him onto her shoulder to help him walk. Once they got back over to Gabriel, she suggested they take a photo to celebrate their victory. While she pulled a wide genuine smile, Issei and Griselda forced theirs, unsure of what the future meant for them both now...

 _ **Flashback end**_

Issei was snapped back to the present by a soothing voice calling his name. He opened his eyes and locked them with the golden ones of Gabriel. The injured seraph has awoken in the time he'd been reminiscing because he'd seen her asleep when he entered the room with Griselda.

"You came" Gabriel whispered in a low but grateful voice.

"I did, Griselda said you have something to say to me" Issei replied with a strained voice.

Gabriel paused for a moment, this was harder than she'd anticipated. The seraph knew that she had treated Issei wrongly however she still believed it had been for the good of all of Heaven, so when she saw him here, clearly not the same as he used to be, she took her chance.

"I just wanted to say that you've been doing a good job with the devils and that it wasn't your time to die. That was what you wanted from me right?" Gabriel answered sweetly.

Issei however was pissed. He'd been brought to a place that held nothing but bad memories after he'd been discarded even if only as a farce by the devils, the intention was still there. Now finally when the person who had toyed with him so much was finally going to apologize and give him some closure, she chickens out and takes the easy route? Not on his watch.

His eyes burned with rage as he summoned the boosted gear for the first time in the presence of the angels. How ironic considering it was the only thing they'd wanted from him before.

"You" Issei spat. "You think you can call me here to aplogize for the year of abuse you delivered to me after all this time and then chicken out at the last minute!" Issei finshed his sentence roaring the words at Gabriel like a dragon.

The seraph was shocked to see the boosted gear after all this time, but even more so that Issei had lost his temper this badly, she truly had no idea how much she'd hurt him and how much he was going to make her pay for the pain she caused him.

Griselda got between Issei and Gabriel before things could escalate any further, however that only angered Issei further.

"Really? After all this time and seeing first hand what she's constantly thrown at me you're still protecting her?" Issei questioned incredulously.

"I'm sorry Issei but I cannot allow you to harm her, no matter what she has done, she is a seraph with strong connections to Michael" Griselda explained.

Issei clenched his uncovered hand.

"No... i'm sorry for ever trusting you, I thought we were close before I was kicked out but it appears I was wrong, you're still her lapdog" Issei growled pointing at Gabriel.

"Issei that-" Griselda started but she was cut off by a punch from Issei's gauntlet.

"Next time you get in my way, I won't hold back" Issei warned Griselda before stepping over her groaning form towards Gabriel's bed.

The seraph pushed a button for guards to come to her rescue.

"Try all you want Gabriel, nothing sort of a miracle can save you now" Issei snarled as he raised his arm to deliver the killing blow.

As if on cue a bright light illuminated the room and blinded Issei for a moment, a form appeared from the light and used that moment to strike Issei in the chest, knocking him into the wall.

Issei slowly raised himself to see the bastard who had prevented him from ending that damned seraph, however he was unable to figure out who it was. The person had long silver hair that reached her lower back, she was adorned in white and blue armor that had shining blue wings, her eyes were hazel and she wore a large grin that showed off her perfect white teeth.

"Who the hell are you?" Issei asked, infuriated that this woman had stopped him killing Gabriel.

"Aww, i'm hurt that you don't know who I am... my rival!".

 _ **Ooh another cliffhanger, don't you just love to see it? And on my longest chapter yet, over 4.7k words jeez, but I thought i'd make this one longer since you guys deserve a reward for being patient with me.**_

 _ **Well I suppose it's not really one since you all know who that's gonna be with the whole rival shtick but I though for the tiny amount of people who don't know it's important to keep up the cliffhanger tradition :)**_

 _ **As I said before I will update this story whenever I can but it's definitely not going to be cancelled anytime soon, so don't worry, your fave fanfic and its writer are sticking around ;)**_

 _ **So until next time, read, review and pm me with any queries.**_

 _ **BK out :)**_


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